Rent payments don’t typically affect your credit — but they can in a few circumstances. The consequences can be significant.
Rent doesn’t show up in your credit history, experts say because landlords don’t usually report payments to credit bureaus as credit card issuers and other lenders do.
When rent payments do appear, it’s generally because a tenant — or a property manager on a tenant’s behalf — has enrolled in a so-called rent reporting program. These services are meant to provide tenants with the opportunity to grow their credit history through on-time rent payments.
“The good news is that there are a lot of them out there,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree. “It’s certainly been a growing space over the last few years.”
If you fall behind, however, those services can also hurt your credit, experts say. And whether you report your rent to the bureaus or not, debt collection efforts for late or unfulfilled rent payments can also be a black mark on your credit.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began accepting complaints about rental debt collection in August 2023. Since then, there have been roughly 10,960 consumer complaints about rental debt collection in the U.S., per CFPB data through Feb. 21.
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Author: Ana Teresa Solá
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