Since paying off bills makes up 35% of your FICO® credit score, if you can report all the bills you regularly pay to your credit bureaus, there is a good chance your credit score will get a significant boost. Some of these regularly paid bills include rent, utilities, and your phone bill.
Typically, rent is not reported to the credit bureaus. But, it does make up a significant part of your monthly expenses. You cannot directly add your rent information to the credit reports. Instead, you will need a rent-reporting service to do this.
There are two ways to do this: ask your landlord to sign up for a rent-reporting service and verify your payments, or sign up for one yourself. These services can usually be accessed for a fee.
Some rent-reporting services may not need your landlord to verify your payments and will do it through your bank instead. So, if your landlord isn’t unwilling to help you out, you can sign up for one of those options.
In September 2022, Fannie Mae launched The Positive Rent Payment program that allows landlords to report their tenants’ on-time payments. The program is valid for Fannie Mae-financed owners of multifamily properties. Experian® Boost also reports rent payments of a certain amount (if paid online to an eligible landlord), with a few other conditions.
There are several other rent reporting agencies out there and you should choose the one that best fits your needs. StellarFi also reports rent to the major credit bureaus. If you sign up for a StellarFi membership, you can improve your credit score not just through paying rent, but all the bills that you regularly pay as well.
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