Why and how should you add rental history to your credit report?

Have you recently been denied credit due to low credit score? And are you wondering how to improve your credit score? Well, to raise your credit score you’ll have to have a good credit report. The credit report is actually a detailed report of your credit history. It includes various credit card information like credit card balance, credit limit, type of account, date the account was opened as well as information on bankruptcies and foreclosures. All these credit reports are collected and maintained by credit bureaus.

So, if you want to improve your credit report you can take help of a number of ways available. One of such ways is your good rental history. Now the question you’ll ask is, ‘Can I add rental history to my credit report?’ And the answer is yes.

In order to add your good rental history to your credit report you need to follow a few steps which are given below.

Step 1: Keep records

Maintain all the transaction records including payment receipts and rental lease documents. This will help you to show your business relationship if required.

Step 2: Ask your landlord

Rental history can be added to your report by your landlord, however most landlords don’t do it unless you’ve defaulted. Request your landlord to report the rental history to furnish a letter detailing the timely payments to the credit bureau.

Step 3: Do it on your own

If your landlord is still unwilling, then just ask him to write a letter giving the details of your payments and payment history to you. You can go to the credit bureaus and submit it there. Bureaus generally take a nominal fee and in lieu of that they’ll add the rental report to your credit report.

The effects of a good rental history on credit report:

Maintaining a good rental history and getting it reported to the credit bureaus can be beneficial to you in many ways like:

  • Your good credit report will determine whether a landlord will lease to you or not.
  • This will also be a defining factor if you ask for future credit.
  • The effects of good rental history on a credit report is best felt as it’s one of the defining factors when you go to obtain a new job or a new loan.

If you need to restore credit and improve your credit score, then try to add your good rental history to it. It’ll go a long way to help you build a good credit report.