How Your Rental History Is Reported and How It Affects You
Understand the critical role your rental history plays in housing. Discover how it's compiled, its impact on your future, and how to manage your record.
Rental history records an individual’s past behavior as a tenant, reflecting their adherence to lease agreements and financial obligations. This data offers insights into a renter’s overall reliability and responsibility. Understanding how this information is collected and shared is important, as it significantly influences a landlord’s decision-making process when assessing potential tenants.
Mechanisms of Rental History Reporting
Rental history is primarily generated and collected through various entities involved in property management and tenant screening. Individual landlords, property management companies, and specialized tenant screening services contribute to and access this information. Landlords often report payment records and tenant behavior to these screening services or directly to certain credit bureaus, particularly if unpaid rent is sent to collections.
A rental history report includes previous rental addresses, lease durations, and a detailed payment history, noting on-time, late, or missed payments. Reports also document eviction records, detailing reasons and outcomes. Information regarding lease violations, such as property damage, unauthorized occupants, or noise complaints, can also be part of the report. Feedback from previous landlords concerning a tenant’s conduct may also be included.
This information is reported to various channels, forming a tenant’s rental history profile. Specialized tenant screening bureaus, such as Experian RentBureau, CoreLogic SafeRent, and TransUnion SmartMove, are common repositories. Direct reporting of rent payments by individual landlords to major credit bureaus is becoming more common, often facilitated by third-party reporting services. Property management software solutions, like TenantCloud or Buildium, integrate tenant screening features that automate data collection and reporting, streamlining the process for landlords. These platforms consolidate information from various sources, including background and credit checks, to create comprehensive reports.
Impact of Rental History on Individuals
A tenant’s rental history impacts their ability to secure future housing. Landlords and property managers routinely use rental history reports to evaluate prospective tenants, assessing their financial responsibility and adherence to lease terms. A positive rental history, characterized by on-time payments and compliance with lease agreements, makes an applicant more attractive to property owners. Conversely, a history marked by late payments, lease violations, or evictions can hinder an individual’s chances of approval.
Rental history can also influence an individual’s credit reports and scores. Rent payments are increasingly reported to major credit bureaus, with some services submitting on-time payments to TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. Consistent, on-time rent payments can positively affect a credit score, especially for individuals with limited credit history. However, frequently missed or late payments, if reported, can negatively impact the credit score.
Beyond direct reporting, events like evictions or unpaid rent sent to collections can appear on traditional credit reports. An eviction judgment itself does not appear on a credit report, but underlying financial issues, such as unpaid rent debts sold to a collection agency, can. A collection account on a credit report can lower a credit score and remain on the report for up to seven years. This can make it more challenging to obtain loans, credit cards, or another rental property.
Accessing and Correcting Your Rental History
Individuals have the right to access and review their rental history reports to ensure accuracy. You can request copies of your reports from major tenant screening bureaus, similar to how you obtain credit reports. Key agencies include Experian RentBureau, CoreLogic SafeRent, and TransUnion SmartMove. Under federal law, if a landlord denies a rental application based on information in a tenant screening report, they must provide the name and contact information of the company that supplied the report, and you have the right to a free copy of that report if requested within 60 days of the adverse action.
When reviewing your rental history report, check for inaccuracies. Verify personal information, such as names and addresses, and confirm the accuracy of payment dates and amounts. Ensure any eviction records listed are correct, including their details and outcome. Also check lease durations and landlord information for correctness.
You have the right to dispute incorrect information on your report. Gather supporting documentation, such as payment receipts or court documents showing a favorable resolution, and submit a formal dispute directly to the tenant screening company that compiled the report. The reporting agency must investigate your dispute within 30 days, which can extend to 45 days. If the investigation confirms an error, the company must correct or delete the inaccurate information. Informing the landlord who used the report about your dispute is also advisable.