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Credit Advice
Topics addressed on December 21, 2011:
You cannot “opt out” of rent payment reporting
Dear Experian,
How do I opt out of The Rent Bureau?
- DWH
Dear DWH,
You can’t opt out of having your rental payment history reported. Any time you make a rental agreement, there is a chance the property management company may choose to report your payment history to rental payment data collectors such as Experian Rent Bureau.
In the past, only negative rent payment history would appear in your credit report, for example evictions or civil judgments for unpaid rent. That meant poor rent payment history could hurt your credit report, but positive rent payment couldn’t help.
Adding positive rent payment history enables you to build a new or stronger credit history simply by paying your rent or lease on time. Experian believes that consumers who have little or no credit history, or who are trying to recover from a difficult financial situation, will benefit greatly.
It can be difficult for people with no credit history to qualify for traditional credit lines, limiting their access to valuable financial tools and causing them to seek higher cost, non-traditional forms credit.
Incorporating rent payments in the credit report will give lenders additional information upon which to base a decision, opening the door to credit for many who would otherwise be unable to qualify without a cosigner.
Also, if people are having difficulty paying their monthly rent, then lenders should be alerted so they don’t offer them more debt to further stress their finances and possibly lead to eviction from their home.
Thanks for asking.
- The "Ask Experian" team