Experian RentBureau: Helping Renters Build Credit Through On-Time Payments

Experian RentBureau: Helping Renters Build Credit Through On-Time Payments

Renting a home is a significant financial responsibility for many people, but did you know that your rent payments don't automatically help build your credit score? That's where Experian RentBureau comes in. Experian RentBureau is the largest and most widely used database of rental payment information, currently including data on over 26 million residents nationwide. This powerful platform allows property management companies and third-party rent reporters to submit rental payment data directly and automatically to RentBureau on a daily or monthly basis. By opting in to have your rental data reported through RentBureau, you can potentially increase your credit score simply by paying your rent on time. This is a game-changer for renters, as your rent is likely one of your biggest monthly bills, but it doesn't normally count towards your credit history.

The Benefits of Reporting Rental Data

When your on-time rent payments are reported to Experian RentBureau, it can help you build credit history and improve your credit score. This is especially valuable for those who may have limited or no credit history, as it provides an additional avenue to demonstrate responsible financial behavior. Additionally, RentBureau's comprehensive database allows property managers to make more informed decisions when screening and approving rental applications. By accessing detailed rental payment histories, they can confidently approve more qualified applicants, faster.

How to Get Started with Experian RentBureau

To take advantage of Experian RentBureau, start by checking with your current or prospective landlord to see if they are already reporting rental data to the platform. If so, you can request a copy of your RentBureau consumer report to review the information they have on file. If your landlord is not yet reporting to RentBureau, you can encourage them to do so or explore options to have your rent payments added to your Experian credit report through services like Experian Boost. Don't let the opportunity to get credit for your responsible rent payments pass you by. Work with Experian RentBureau to ensure your rental history is accurately reflected and contributing to your overall credit profile.

Links:

Request Experian RentBureau Report

Dispute Experian RentBureau Report

Credit Scores are Not Controlled by the Government

There is a misconception that credit scores are controlled by the government and a meme portraying Spiderman that reads: “The people who are $30 trillion in debt are giving you a credit score” is making its rounds on the internet.

Credit scores come from the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Consumers have a belief that they are somehow owned, managed and controlled by the federal government but they are not, in fact.

At a fundamental level, the credit bureaus all operate as private, for-profit companies. They are highly regulated by the government by the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  But in reality, none of the businesses are mandated by the government.

Credit bureaus work to collect consumer credit information and they sell that information to businesses such as banks and credit card companies. These companies want to know the financial risk of their consumers and are willing to pay for screenings. This determines the likelihood that the consumer will successfully manage a large expense and pay back a loan.

Credit bureaus also work directly with consumers. They are tasked with responding directly to consumer disputes due to mistakes and missing information on credit reports and allow consumers access to their credit scores. If there is fraudulent activity, they allow the consumer to freeze their account or place fraud alerts.

Each company works independently from each other. That is why each report may slightly differ. You may also find that you can access different reports from different places.

Even though the credit bureaus are not apart of the government they are still subjected to laws and regulation. The FCRA has been in existence since the 1970’s. It has been implemented to protect consumer rights when it comes to accuracy, fairness, and privacy of credit information. According to the FCRA you have the right to:

• Be told if information in your credit report has been used against you

• Know what’s in your credit report

• Access your credit score

• Dispute incorrect or incomplete information

• Have incorrect or incomplete information resolved by the credit bureaus

• Have outdated, negative information withheld from your report

• Limit who can access your file

• Give consent to your report being given to employers

• Limit pre-screened credit and insurance offers sent to you

• Seek damages from violators

• Be given additional protections if you’re the victim of identity theft or are on active military duty.

Buy Now, Pay Later & Credit Score

Buy now pay later options do not generally affect peoples credit and do not yet routinely appear on most credit reports. The credit bureaus; TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian are each working through this relatively new system and how to report on these services in the context of credit worthiness and a borrowers financial obligations. 

This means that a good record of payment on your buy now, pay later accounts will not help build your credit. It also won’t hurt your credit unless your account is sent to collections. This payment option is popular with younger generations, as they are least likely to have built their credit. For now, it is a good way to practice building your credit. 

How Buy Now, Pay Later Works

When you purchase something online, some stores may offer to divide your purchase into smaller installment payments. Most often into four payments, every two weeks. The most used options are Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, Paypal, and Zip. They partner with retailers who pay them commission. 

Approval is partially based on data that includes address stability, public records and previous history you may have with the lender and banking information. 

Opportunities for Credit Building

The credit bureaus are working hard to incorporate this method into their formulas. Consumers are using these accounts online more frequently than traditional credit cards and loans, especially young consumers. This could prove to be most beneficial to build up credit. 

There are Risks

Since buy now, pay later loans are new and unregulated they are often paid late, most often by consumers of the age group 18-30. BNPY lack the typical protections you would have under a credit card such as dispute resolutions. The easy access to the application causes the consumer to impulsively purchase and buildup debt faster than they normally would. The consumer may also rack up multiple BNPL accounts on multiple sites that could potentially lead to collection accounts. Once sent to collections, it will end up on credit reports. 

The Credit Bureaus

It has been decades since a new type of credit has been in the market. The BNPY system does not fit perfectly within the two categories they have in place now: Installment loans that span months or years and revolving credit like credit cards. 

The bureaus are working together to find a format that fits and are figuring out a common ground.

Current Plans:

• Experian has announced it plans a specialty bureau to hold buy now, pay later data. Information from the specialty bureau will be “promoted” periodically into the consumer’s core credit file.
  

• Equifax plans to add the information to regular credit reports.
  

• TransUnion has said it will partition off the data on core credit reports.

Changes in Medical Debt Reporting

The nation’s largest credit reporting agencies; Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion announced on Friday that many U.S. consumers will have their medical debt wiped from their credit reports. 

In a joint statement, they stated that nearly 70% of medical collection debt accounts from consumer credit reports would be removed after conducting months of market research. The changes will take effect July 1, 2022.

Paid medical debt will no longer be included on consumer credit reports. Credit bureaus plan to extend the timeline reporting how long a medical bill is sent to collections. Typically a medical bill is sent to collections after 180 days. Consumers will now be given up to one full year. This will give consumers more time to work with insurance and/or medical providers to address their debt before it is reported to their file without it impacting their credit score.

 Most medical debts in collection on consumer credit reports are under $500. Beginning in the first half of 2023 Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion will no longer include unpaid medical collection debt that is under $500, though that threshold may increase. 

This does not change the responsibility of the consumer to pay, but it may alleviate some of struggle consumers face when trying to apply for credit. 

Free Report Weekly Until April 2022

On March 2, 2021 the three major credit bureaus, TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian in a joint statement said that they will continue to offer consumers free weekly credit reports until April 20, 2022 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

Prior to the pandemic, credit bureaus were required by law to provide a single free report just once a year and consumers were charged about $20 each additional time they needed one. 

Frances Creighton, president and CEO of the Consumer Data Industry Association, which represents the three credit bureaus told Consumer Reports Inc.: “None of us could have foreseen that the pandemic situation would last longer than a year.” This time is especially important for consumers to have the key to their financial information. 

Credit reports are used by lenders to determine whether you’re a good credit risk. Your credit report shows whether you made mortgage, credit card, auto loans, and/or student loan payments on-time. Employers, potential landlords, cellular service providers, and employers are able to review your report with your permission. 

Your credit score is calculated by the information in your credit report. This is the three-digit number that is meant to determine your creditworthiness. Getting a credit report on a regular basis can help consumers monitor their information because changes in the report can happen daily. 

You can obtain your credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. The credit reporting industry has seen an unprecedented amount of consumer complaints made to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over errors discovered in credit reports. Credit report errors accounted for nearly 2/3 of the total complaints in 2020, which is a rise of 23% from 2019 according to the CFPB’s complaint database. 

It was found that up to 1/4 of credit reports contain at least one mistake according to a 2012 Federal Trade Commission Report. Consumer Reports Inc. conducted a nationally representative survey of 2,223 U.S. adults in January 2021 and found that 12% of Americans who checked their credit report found an error. 

Errors include anything from incorrect address information to more serious problems, such as loans that are listed multiple times, paid-off loans that appear as still open, and/or information about someone else’s account that appear on your account. 

Last year, in another survey, participating consumers noted a range of mistakes on their reports. One man found that his mortgage was listed twice. His bank had promised to fix the error but it still remained on his report months later. Another consumer’s report had his sons information mixed with his own. One other found that an unpaid bill had went into collections in a state he had never lived in. 

These errors can negatively affect a consumers credit score and could be a particular problem for people who deferred loan payments with lenders or credit card companies. 

Last May, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act was passed and required companies providing federally backed mortgages and student loans to offer deferrals while still reporting to the credit bureaus that the loan is current. Some credit card companies and auto lenders also offered deferrals. For some, those deferred loan payments were still being reported as late. This is another good reason to check your report often. 

There are consumers who are advocating that credit reports should be free permanently. They feel that consumers should not be charged to access their own data. Chi Chi Wu, an attorney at the National Consumer Law center, who has a focus on credit issues, said: “There’s nothing I can think of that would legally or logistically prevent the Big Three credit bureaus from making free weekly reports permanent”. 

Credit bureaus are suppose to look at all supporting documentation when a consumer files a dispute, but they very often do not. Agencies should ensure that any supporting documents a consumer submits in the automated dispute filing is considered in the bureau’s review of their case. Oftentimes the task of reviewing disputes is outsourced and the bureaus will usually accept the results of the outsourced investigation without questioning the accuracy of the findings. 

Currently, credit bureaus will only match 7 of the nine digits of a social security number in the consumes report. To avoid errors, advocates are pushing for the bureaus to require the matching of all nine digits. 

If you find an error in your report you should file a dispute with the three credit bureaus. TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian are separate companies so the disputes must be filed to each. It is best to send a letter by certified mail and keep copies for yourself. The paper trail will make it easier to confirm that the credit bureaus are following the lawful time lines. You should avoid filing disputes online because often credit bureaus have standardized forms that might force you to oversimplify your situation and never have an actual representative look at the dispute. 

Along with the letter, you should include any evidence. This could be account statements or information on payments made that will protect you from a credit bureau dismissing your claim because of lack of sufficient backup information. Avoid resubmitting a evidence later on because it could be denied if the claim is considered similar to previous ones. 

Dispute Still Denied

If your disputes get denied consider hiring an experienced lawyer to file a case. We specialize in FCRA law, your consultation is free, and your legal fees will be covered so there is no out of pocket expense. 

Personal Statement 

You are able to add a personal statement to your report to help explain your situation. Banks and other institutions will typically read and consider this note when making a decision about your creditworthiness, especially if you lost a dispute and have a negative item on your report. 

Ask to send updated report

If you won a dispute you should ask the bureaus to send out an updated report. This new report will go to anyone who has checked your report within the past six months. 

What to Know About the 3 Major Credit Bureaus

Credit reports affect your life more than most people realize. When you are leasing or buying a new home, applying for loans or credit cards, getting insurance coverage, or applying for a new job, there is likely someone using one of your credit reports to evaluate you. 

Because your credit reports carry so much of your information, the companies in charge of putting together and selling them have a major influence over your financial life. These companies are known as credit bureaus. In this blog we will look closer at what the credit bureaus do and the rules they must follow. 

The three main credit bureaus in the U.S. are Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. They are the three largest nationwide providers of consumer credit reports to lenders, insurance providers, employers and other companies who use credit information to help predict risk. 

Credit reporting has been around for over 100 years, but it has evolved over time. Credit bureaus use to be small and localized, but overtime the “Big Three”, as the major credit bureaus are known, attained may of these smaller credit agencies and consolidated their data into larger databases. 

Presently, each of the three major credit bureaus maintains a database with information of approximately 220 million U.S. consumers. When you apply for a loan and/or credit card, it is a given that the lender will access at least one of your credit reports provided by these three companies during the application review process. 

Big data, as the credit reporting industry is often called, brings in big money. The three main credit bureaus earn billions of dollars every year selling credit information to other companies. They collect information about you and sell it to others who are willing to pay for the data.  

How They Get Your Information

You may not recall giving credit bureaus permission to create a credit file about you, and you shouldn’t. This is because that is not how the bureaus work. Many companies that you and others owe money, are willingly sharing details about their customers with the bureaus. These companies include lenders, banks, credit card issuers, collection agencies, and others. These businesses are called data furnishes. Data furnishers opt to share information with the credit bureaus for many reasons. The biggest motivator is that credit reporting give a company’s customers extra motivation to pay their debts and to pay on time. 

Most of the data in credit reports comes from data furnishers, but the credit bureaus collect information in other ways too. When it comes to public records such as bankruptcies, the credit bureaus seek out purchase information from data aggregation companies like PACER, AKA Public Access to Court Electronic Records, and LexisNexis. 

Information the Credit Bureaus Collect

The credit bureaus collect a great deal of data to include in your credit report but ignores some details about your life also. For example, your credit reports do not include criminal records, income, or bank account balances. The information that they do collect for credit reporting purposes can generally fit into one of the five categories.

Categories:

1.Personal Information

• Name (current and previous)

• Addresses (current and previous)

• Date of Birth

• Employer

• SSN

2. Collections

• Accounts sold to, or managed by third-party debt collectors

3. Public Records

• Bankruptcies

• Previously included judgements and tax liens as well

4. Credit Inquires

• Details about when your credit was accessed during the last two years.

5. Accounts 

• Credit obligations (current and previous)

• Account numbers

• Payment History

• Current Balance

• Status (current, closed, past due, charged-off, etc.)

• Credit Limit

• Date of account opening

Credit bureaus collect this information for the reason that it is profitable. Other companies are willing to pay for your credit reports. Credit reports are helpful to lenders and other companies to predict the risk of doing business with you. Scoring models, like FICO and VantageScore, can also use these details to calculate your credit score. 

Credit Bureaus Must Follow Federal and State Laws

It I can be aggravating that the credit bureaus are allowed to collect sensitive financial information without your permission. Even though these companies are allowed to gather your information and sell it to others, there are rules in place to help protect you. 

At the federal level, the credit bureaus are obligated to follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act, also known as the FCRA. The FCRA is in existence to protect consumers and regulates what consumer reporting agencies are required to do when it comes to your information. The full text of the FCRA is over 100 pages, but here are some of the key provisions of the act:

• Credit Report Accuracy: The bureaus must impose “reasonable procedures” to assure “maximum possible accuracy” of the information concerning the individual. They should only be including accurate information on your credit reports. Should you discover credit reporting errors or fraud, the FCRA allows you to dispute the information. When you submit a credit dispute, the bureau must investigate your claim. They have 30 days to respond to the dispute and to delete information that isn’t verified as accurate. 

• Free Annual Credit Reports: It is a good idea to review your credit reports frequently. An amendment from 2003 to the FCRA, known as the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act or FACTA, provides free access to each of your credit reports once every year. AnnualCreditReport.com is the website you should visit to access these free reports. The three major credit bureaus are offering a free weekly credit report access at this website until April 2021 in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

• Permissible Purpose: The credit bureaus are only allowed to sell your credit reports to certain entities such as Lenders, insurance companies, landlords, and employers (with written permission). They may have “permissible purpose” to buy a copy of your report. In good news, someone such as your ex-partner or random creepers would be out of luck.

• Freezing Your Credit Report: You have the right to freeze your credit reports as a protective measure. When a credit freeze or security freeze is in place, companies you don’t have a current relationship with cannot access your credit information. In order to grant them access to your data, you must first unfreeze your report. An amendment established in 2018 to the FCRA, known as the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, lets your freeze and unfreeze your reports for free.

• Opting Out: The credit bureaus are able to sell your information to certain companies for marketing purposes, even if you are not applying for financing. Your credit data may have been sold without your knowledge if you have ever received a prescreened offer of credit or insurance in the mail. Use the link OptOutPrescreen.com or call 888-5-OPTOUT (888-567-8688) if you wish to stop sharing your credit information for marketing purposes

Along with the FCRA, the credit bureaus must comply with state laws as well. For example, on top of the free annual credit reports provided by the FCRA, state law might require the credit bureaus to give you more free reports. In some states, employers aren’t allowed to review your credit information as a part of the background check. 

Different Credit Bureaus Contain Different Information

When reviewing your credit reports from all three bureaus, you will likely find similar information on each report. But, there are probably some differences as well. For example, your Experian credit report might show a collection account, while that account may be missing from Equifax and TransUnion. 

There are many reasons why your credit reports could contain slightly differing information. Here are a few examples:

• The credit bureaus are competitors and they do not share data with one another.

• Credit reporting is voluntary. Just because a data furnisher opts to share information with one bureaus does not mean it has to report information to all of them. The most major lenders will report to all three credit bureaus.

• The consumer doesn’t always understand the dispute process. Someone might dispute an incorrect item with one credit bureau, but not the other two. This could results in an incorrect account being deleted form one credit report while it remains on the others.

• Dispute results can be inconsistent. Even if you dispute an inaccurate account with all three credit bureaus, the results may vary. Each bureau will conduct its own investigation. So, while a data furnisher might verify the account as accurate with one credit bureau, it could also fill to respond to the others. This might lead to a disputed account remaining on one or more of your reports, but not all of them.

• Your credit file could be mixed. Credit bureaus can make mistakes. One major mistake is combining your credit file with someone else’s file. This often occurs when people have similar names. Generally, mixed files occur with just one credit bureau at a time.

It is critical to understand how the credit bureaus work, whether you’re building credit for the first time, rebuilding damaged credit, or trying to maintain your already good credit rating. The credit bureaus are important but they do not control every aspect of your financial life. 

The credit bureaus don’t assign your credit scores. They don’t approve or deny loan applications. They don’t decide which accounts you will open or how you will manage your credit obligations. Knowing what the three credit bureaus are allowed to do and which behaviors are wrongful can protect you and help you keep your credit intact. 

Protecting Your Credit Score Act

On June 29th, 2020, the Protecting Your Credit Score Act (H.R. 5332) was passed by the United States House of Representatives. This act will amend the federal FCRA to guarantee that consumer reporting agencies, such as Transunion, Experian, and Equifax, are giving fair and accurate information in consumer reports. The act will be making changes to strengthen the rights of consumers and increase the consumer data protection guidelines that reporting agencies must follow. This will increase the accountability of the agencies. 

A study of the Frederal Trade Commission shows that approximately 21% of consumers had errors in their credit reports, 13% of those errors affected the consumers credit score, and 5% had errors that were serious enough to cause a credit denial. For the consumer, fixing this errors can be complicated and a full blown nightmare. The reporting agencies favor the side of the creditor and/or debt collector. 

This new act takes a number of steps that will make it easier for consumers to fix the credit errors. It will also be easier to force the credit bureaus to reinvestigate the errors and fix the mistakes. 

A few notes from the act include: 

• Establishing an online consumer portal landing page

  • This is a single online consumer portal that has free and unlimited access to their reports and credit scores. 

• It will increase credit report accuracy and transparency. 

  • This will require Experian, Equifax, and Transunion to conduct preventative audits by matching ALL digits of the consumers social security number or the full legal name, date of birth, current address, and one previous address. The credit bureaus are known for only matching 7 of the 9 digits of the consumers social security number, which often results in a case of a mixed file. 

• It establishes a CFPB ombudsperson, or a public advocate to resolve these common errors made by reporting agencies. 

Be sure to check your credit report frequently. Many people do not realize that they have an error in their credit report until they are trying to apply for credit. This can effect your ability to get a credit card, get a loan, buy a car, a home, and more. 

If you have errors in your credit report, contact us for help. We can give you step by step guidance and let you know if you have a case! 

Protect Your Credit Score Act

Problems persist with Credit Bureaus

Problems persist with Credit Bureaus

Have you experienced issues with credit bureau’s? It seems to be a running theme. The three major credit-reporting bureau’s – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, have had the most complaints for four consecutive years. These complaints involve inaccurate information on credit reports. Fighting with these bureaus can be a hassle because the bureaus have more power than the consumer.

            Lawmakers have only begun to pay attention since the enormous data breach from Equifax just two years ago. This led to being able to freeze your reports for no fee but didn’t provide any new ways to protect the consumer. There have been a few reforms in the past few years, such as bureaus being required to inform the other bureaus when a credit file is found to be mixed with another person and that a report can no longer include debts outside of an agreement or contract. For example, The reports are not allowed to include medical records that are 180 days old or less or medical debts that have been paid by an insurer.

            Problems have been persistent, and it seems that reform is not happening fast enough. The disputes are converted into codes that summarize the complaints for the data furnishers, which can be thought of as computers talking to computers. This can be frustrating when you have a dispute that is more complex and you need to talk to a real person.

            During the data breach of 2017, Equifax had a settlement of $700 million, which is comparable to a parking ticket in their eyes. It is just the cost of doing business and easier than changing their business practices to be fair and partial to consumers. It is imperative as a consumer to check your credit report regularly, or you may find yourself unexpectedly rejected for credit when it is most crucial. annualcreditreport.com is a site where you can check your credit report for free annually. As a consumer, it is your job to identify that your accounts are in good standing and have all the correct information. If your personal information is wrong, it could potentially be a mixed file or identity theft. It isn’t uncommon for a credit file to be mixed with someone who has similarities to your identifying information. It is most likely to happen if you have a common first and last name or if you have a family member with a similar or the same name. Credit bureaus may even consider only 7 of the 9 digits of your social security number when matching your information. You have the right to dispute these errors and have them corrected and/or deleted. An error in your file could prevent you from getting credit, renting a home, or getting a job.

            If you come across an error, you should take action from both sides. You should contact the furnisher that provided data to the bureaus and to contact the bureau(s) reporting the error. It may even be best to write a formal letter by mail so that a person and not a computer will receive the information. It also provides you with a paper trail if you were to make a claim.  Being persistent is key, it is not easy to get a furnisher to immediately admit their wrongs. Filing a dispute with the credit bureaus as you communicate with the furnisher will help preserve your right to make a legal claim if the error fails to be corrected. You can find dispute information and mailing addresses through these links: equifax.com/disputes, experian.com/disputes and transunion.com/disputes Contact us today with any questions you may have regarding your credit report.