How To Report Rent Payments To Credit Bureaus Bankrate Caret RightMain Menu Mortgage Mortgages Financing a home purchase Refinancing your existing loan Finding the right lender Additional Resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Bank Banking Compare Accounts Use calculators Get advice Bank reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Credit Card Credit cards Compare by category Compare by credit needed Compare by issuer Get advice Looking for the perfect credit card? Narrow your search with CardMatch Caret RightMain Menu Loan Loans Personal Loans Student Loans Auto Loans Loan calculators Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Invest Investing Best of Brokerages and robo-advisors Learn the basics Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Home Equity Home equity Get the best rates Lender reviews Use calculators Knowledge base Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Loan Home Improvement Real estate Selling a home Buying a home Finding the right agent Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Insurance Insurance Car insurance Homeowners insurance Other insurance Company reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Retirement Retirement Retirement plans & accounts Learn the basics Retirement calculators Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Advertiser Disclosure

Advertiser Disclosure

We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. SHARE: DimaBerlin / Shutterstock.com April 30, 2020 Bankrate logo

The Bankrate promise

At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Bankrate logo

The Bankrate promise

At Bankrate, we have a mission to demystify the credit cards industry — regardless or where you are in your journey — and make it one you can navigate with confidence. Our team is full of a diverse range of experts from credit card pros to data analysts and, most importantly, people who shop for credit cards just like you. With this combination of expertise and perspectives, we keep close tabs on the credit card industry year-round to: Meet you wherever you are in your credit card journey to guide your information search and help you understand your options. Consistently provide up-to-date, reliable market information so you're well-equipped to make confident decisions. Reduce industry jargon so you get the clearest form of information possible, so you can make the right decision for you. At Bankrate, we focus on the points consumers care about most: rewards, welcome offers and bonuses, APR, and overall customer experience. Any issuers discussed on our site are vetted based on the value they provide to consumers at each of these levels. At each step of the way, we fact-check ourselves to prioritize accuracy so we can continue to be here for your every next. Bankrate logo

Editorial integrity

Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.

Key Principles

We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.

Editorial Independence

Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo

How we make money

You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. Rent payments often make up the largest expense that many people incur each month, but they don’t generally count towards your payment history or other important factors on your credit report. That means your on-time monthly rent payments are likely not contributing to your credit score. While lenders and creditors report mortgage, auto and credit card payments to credit bureaus each month, your rent payments generally don’t get reported to bureaus. If you are consistent in paying your rent on time each month though, your credit score could get a boost from reporting rent payments. Here are some ways that you can ensure your rent payments are reported and count towards your credit score.

Services you can use to report rent payments

There’s not a direct way for you to report rent payments to credit bureaus yourself. Instead, you can use one of the many reporting services which send information about your monthly payments to credit bureaus. Before signing up for a reporting service, make sure you know how much you’ll pay and which credit bureaus the service reports to.

Experian RentBureau

If your property management company or landlord works with Experian’s RentBureau, your rent payment data can be reported to Experian for incorporation into your credit report with the bureau. If your landlord doesn’t report through RentBureau, you can also sign up through a rent payment service that does, such as RentTrack, PayYourRent or Cozy.

Rental Kharma

Rental Kharma reports rent payments to TransUnion. In order to qualify to use the service you must rent from a property management company or from the owner of the property. Rental Kharma will verify your payment history with your landlord or property manager, and include six months of past rent payments in its reporting. There’s a $50 startup fee to begin using the service, after which you’ll pay $8.95 per month.

Rent Reporters

RentReporters sends data about your rent payments to two credit bureaus, TransUnion and Equifax. RentReporters tracks your rent payments by contacting your landlord directly to verify that on-time payment has been made. The sign-up fee is $94.95 which will get you two years of past rent data reporting, then $9.95 per month to maintain the service.

Which bureaus account for rent payments

All three credit bureaus will include rent payment information in your credit report if they receive it. However, credit bureaus don’t automatically receive your rental payment history. And despite services that simplify rent payment data reporting, that information won’t automatically translate into changes in the credit score potential lenders see when you apply for a loan or new credit card. Commonly-used versions of FICO’s scoring model do not include rental payment data when calculating your credit score, though VantageScore models do consider rent payments when calculating your credit score.

Do rent payments help build credit

Rent payments do have the possibility to help you build credit, but that’s only if you are actively making sure that your payments are being reported. If your payments are being reported, they can have a positive effect on your payment history and add another element to your credit profile, increasing your credit mix. But remember, rent payments will only really have a positive effect if you are consistent with your payments. Falling behind on your rent payments can lead to negative reporting and a decrease in your credit score, especially if your debt is sent to a collections agency.

Other ways to build credit

Reporting your rent payments can help you to build credit, but if is your priority, there are better methods you can use. If your landlord offers the option, consider . Just watch out for costly fees and make sure you can pay off the balance each month so you don’t take on interest on your rent payments. Develop good, long-lasting credit habits using your credit cards that can boost your score, such as consistent, timely payment history and low credit utilization. If you are unable to get a credit card at this time, look into being on someone else’s credit card. You can also consider applying for a . These cards are generally easier to be approved for since you’ll put down a deposit on your credit card that serves as your credit limit. You can use the card to make small purchases that you can easily pay off, in order to build up your score credit history over time. SHARE:

Related Articles