RentTrack and TransUnion have partnered to ensure renters "get the credit they deserve for on-time monthly payments."
RentTrack and TransUnion have launched an online rent payment reporting service designed to enable renters to create a payment track record, monitor their rent payment history and credit score, and also receive credit tips, RentTrack said in a press release Tuesday. Once a RentTrack user makes a rental payment, the information is automatically sent to TransUnion and added to their credit report the same as a mortgage or credit card payment.
The partnership aims to change a reality where even though over 100 million people or one in three Americans spend more than $300 billion on rent every year, "very few of them get any credit for their on-time payments," according to the release.
"RentTrack gives renters, especially younger ones, a new level of control over their financial future," said RentTrack's chief executive officer Matthew Briggs. "The bureaus have been collecting consumer data for decades, but rent - one of the largest expenditures - was seldom or never reported."
There is one glitch. Renters can set up an automatic payment account with RentTrack only if the building's owner or rental property manager signs up with the service. Therefore the success of this service, which benefits the consumers, the industry and the economy overall, said Tim Martin, executive vice president at TransUnion, will depend on the number of landlords and property managers who decide to report rental payments through RentTrack reaches a critical mass and it becomes "commonplace for companies to use rental history to help establish consumers' creditworthiness."
