Rent Reporting a Win-Win for Tenants & Landlords!

Reporting rent payments to credit bureaus is growing in popularity to help tenants build credit. But it’s not just something that helps tenants. According to the media website, Propmodo, it’s also a better way to do business for landlords. And there are a growing number of companies offering this service to both tenants and landlords. (1) Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review. Having a long history of on-time rent payments speaks well of a renter. That’s something every landlord looks for during the screening process. But until more recently, the only option for passing that information along to the “next” landlord is by word of mouth – from one landlord to another who’s checking references, typically by phone. For the renter, on-time rent payments will obviously keep the peace with a current landlord, and help with any phone calls from a new landlord, but it does little to improve a renter’s credit score. Although renters can build credit from paying their other bills, rent hasn’t been one of things reported to the big three credit agencies because landlords are not considered creditors. Technology-Based Solutions The arrival of technology-based solutions or “fintech” is changing the way this information is distributed. Just this week, a company called “Bilt Rewards” announced that it will offer a free rent reporting service for tenants who live in Bilt Alliance multi-family buildings. Bilt tenants have been able to earn points for paying their rent on time, and then use those points to pay for other things like travel or to help pay next month’s rent. And now those tenants can also choose to have those rent payments reported to Experian, Equifax, and Transunion to help build their credit, which they need to possibly eventually buy a home. As Bilt says on its website: “Rent reporting can help build a credit history, increase the types of credit on your credit report, and may boost your credit score.” (2) Rent Reporting is Valuable to Landlords This kind of information is also valuable to landlords to evaluate the likelihood that a future tenant will pay his or her rent. It even seems like a glaring omission that rent reporting has not been part of the credit reporting system, but as I mentioned, that’s changing. There are a number of companies now offering the service. FrontLobby and RentRedi are two that come to mind, along with the one I previously mentioned, Bilt Rewards. Propmodo mentions a company called Piñata that also rewards tenants for making on-time payments. It’s a New Jersey start-up with an app that provides currency to tenants with timely rent payments. That currency can then be used to buy things from prominent brands like Costco, Amazon, and Starbucks. Piñata also helps tenants build credit, and hopes to close the credit discrimination gap for renters. Propmodo says that the “lack” of rent reporting can be a source of frustration for renters. According to a report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, almost 11 million renters spent more than 50% of their income on housing in 2018. That’s a big chunk of a typical renter’s income that doesn’t build equity, and without contributing to their credit score, provides no additional financial benefit. Building Credit, Avoiding Delinquencies As reported by Propmodo, FrontLobby says that tenants have seen their credit scores jump more than 40 points “in a matter of months.” And for landlords, it says they can “lower payment delinquencies by 36%.” The Propmodo piece calls it a win-win for both tenants and landlords because “landlords and property management companies can make better screening decisions when they’re deciding who to rent to. And, it says that “offering to report a tenant’s rent payments to the credit bureaus is its own incentive to attract tenants.” For tenants, it helps them build credit, which they might need if they ever want to become homeowners. Fannie Mae has been using data on rent payments in its underwriting process since last September. And Freddie Mac is reportedly looking into doing it as well. (3) Check for links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. And please check out Rich Fettke’s new book, “The Wise Investor.” It’s a book that will help ground you and expand your horizons while teaching you about real estate, financial freedom, and the discovery of your better self. The kindle book is for sale on Amazon. The hard cover and audio versions are coming out in August but you can pre-order them now. You can also read more about the book here. Also, please remember to hit the subscribe button, and leave a review! Thanks for listening. I'm Kathy Fettke. Links: 1 -https://www.propmodo.com/reporting-rent-to-credit-bureaus-is-better-for-tenants-and-landlords/ 2 -https://www.biltrewards.com/ 3 -https://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/news/rent-payment-reporting-program-launched-by-bilt-rewards