Rent, exactly as with any other bill, has to be paid on time. In the event you do not pay your rent or if you’re late with your payments, did you know your landlord has the option to report late rent payments to the credit bureaus? And that could hurt your credit rating.
Your landlord may report late rent payments in several ways
Landlords have several options for reporting your late rent payments. For instance, he or she can:
- Subscribe to a reporting service like DataLinx and report late or non-payments to each of the credit reporting agencies,
- Turn your debt over to a collection agency. The collection service can then report you to the credit agencies, or
- File an eviction with your county court house.
Now, turning a debt over to a collection agency means they are going to either charge you a fee or commission based on the amount they collect. In many cases, they want to keep up to 50% – and they may settle the debt for a lesser amount just to close the account. So you’ll never see the full amount owed.
Filing for a judgment at the court house doesn’t guarantee you’ll get payment either – and the information doesn’t always end up on a credit report.
The most effective option is utilizing a credit reporting service like DataLinx to report to the credit bureaus.
What you can do to help yourself
If you are having difficulty paying your rent on time, request to meet with your landlord and see if you can come up with a payment program. Maybe you’ll be able to avoid having your property manager report late rent payments.
Do you regularly make your rent payment on time? Why not ask your landlord to subscribe to a reporting service like DataLinx? This will get your payments reported to one or more of the credit reporting agencies. Having your on-time rental payments reported canboost your credit rating. A higher credit score can mean lower interest rates on your credit cards, or a better deal on your next auto loan. You owe it to yourself to find out more…
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