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

The CFPB Continues to Propose a Rule to Ban Medical Debt

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has proposed a rule to ban medical debt from credit reports. This has led to frustration among collectors and financial services firms. The proposal aims to help families recover from medical crises, prevent debt collectors from coercing people into paying bills they may not owe, and ensure that creditors do not rely on data that is often inaccurate. The CFPB's research shows that medical debt has little predictive value in credit decisions, and the data inaccuracies in medical debt reporting can erode the utility of the credit reporting ecosystem. Some collectors have already been moving away from reporting medical debt to credit agencies due to concerns about data integrity and their ability to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act

Consequences

The potential consequences of the CFPB's plan to ban medical debt from credit reports are a subject of debate. Collectors and financial firms claim that the proposal would restrict lending, raise borrowing costs, and result in more denials of credit to consumers. They argue that hiding medical debt from credit bureaus would further reduce credit scores' utility as a proxy for a borrower's ability to repay, which they believe doesn't benefit anyone.

The potential consequences for consumers are still uncertain and will likely depend on the outcome of the CFPB's proposal and any subsequent changes to the credit reporting system.

Arguments

The arguments against the CFPB's plan to ban medical debt from credit reports are primarily related to the CFPB's funding structure and the potential impact on the credit reporting system. The CFPB's funding mechanism, which allows it to request funding from the Federal Reserve instead of Congress, has been the subject of a legal challenge. Critics argue that this funding structure insulates the CFPB from congressional oversight and that the agency's actions, including the proposed rule on medical debt, could be called into question if the funding mechanism is found to be unconstitutional.

Efforts

CFPB research found that 58 percent of all third-party debt collection tradelines were for medical debt, making medical debt the most common debt collection tradeline on credit records in 2021. Last March, the big three credit reporting conglomerates, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, announced that they would stop reporting some, but not all, medical bills on an individual’s credit report. Large credit scoring companies are moving to models that completely or partially exclude medical bills, though many creditors still rely on older models that haven’t made that shift. VantageScore, an entity owned by the conglomerates, has stopped using medical debt in its scores entirely.

Last April, Vice President Harris launched an all-of-government effort to address the burden of medical debt, and to increase consumer protections around billing and collections. At the time, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a bulletin to prevent unlawful medical debt collection and reporting in light of the No Surprises Act. The CFPB has taken many steps to ensure that patients are not being unfairly treated, particularly when it comes to coercive credit reporting and collection tactics.

Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, continues to defend the agency's proposal to prevent credit bureaus from considering medical debt in consumer credit scores

Actual Payment Information Suppressed

The biggest credit card companies are suppressing actual payment information on credit reports.

The CFPB reported in 2020 that the largest credit card companies are purposely suppressing customers’ actual payment amounts from their credit reports.  Actual payments are the amounts the borrower repays each month, as opposed to the minimum payments or balance. This means that millions of borrowers are missing key information of their repayment behaviors that impacts their credit. This suppression harms the opportunity to receive better financial offers and costs billions of dollars in interest expenses.

As of 2022, the CFPB reported that Americans paid over $120 billion annually in interest and fees on credit cards and since then the average interest rates charged by credit card companies have been quickly increasing.

Last May, the CFPB sent letters to the CEOs of the nation’s largest credit card companies - JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, Capital One, Discover, and American Express - asking if they furnished actual payment information. They asked why they stopped sending complete data and if they had plans to change their practice.

They learned that:

• One large credit card company took the move first, and the others started suppressing their data shortly after.

• The companies didn’t say when they intended to restart reporting actual repayment information.

• Companies suppress data to limit competition. By withholding information it made it harder for competitors to offer more profitable and less riskier customers better rates, products, or services.

Credit card companies are making it difficult for people to shop for credit and to save money. People expect that their credit behaviors - like paying credit card bills in full each month will be reflected in their consumer reports and credit offer they receive.

More Information from the CFPB: CFPB Summary

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. 

What is an Inaccuracy in a Credit Report?

What is an Inaccuracy in a Credit Report? 

Many consumers misunderstand what an inaccuracy is considered on a credit report. 

Here are some examples of Inaccuracies you may find in a Credit Report: 

• Accounts that don’t belong to you

• Addresses that don’t belong to you

• Social security number that doesn’t belong to you

• A name that is not yours

• Current or previous employers you didn’t work for

• Old Records that should have been removed

Examples: 

• Bankruptcies can be reported for ten (10) years

• Civil suits, judgments, and records of arrest can be reported for seven (7) years

• Paid tax liens can be reported for seven (7) years from the date of payment

• Accounts placed in collections can be reported for seven (7) years

Here are some examples that consumers commonly confuse for inaccuracies:

• Accounts that belong to the consumer but claim they didn’t get the bill or didn’t get the chance to pay. 
  

• Being charged with a “Collateral Attack” *example* - an apartment complex charges a tenant  for various things written in the contract but tenant believes they do not owe the charges and refuses to pay - then charges show on credit report. 

• Filing for bankruptcy but still still having negative marks on credit accounts. 
  

• Having a loan extended but still having a late or non payment show up up. 

There are more examples that could effect your credit score. Don’t be afraid to reach out for questions. Many consumers are confused about how credit reports work. It’s a frustrating process.

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. 

Only One-Third of Americans Checked Their Credit This Year

CompareCards have conducted a survey for the third year in a row in August 2020 following the massive data breach from Equifax four years ago. Only thirty-three percent of Americans have checked their credit reports in the past year. This is a concern since there have been an increase in credit card fraud attempts during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019 39% checked their reports and in 2018, just 37%. It is most crucial to be checking your reports at this time because it has never been easier. For the past four months until April 2021, consumers are able to check their credit reports for free once week, instead of just once a year through AnnualCreditReport.com.

Consumers aged 75 and older are at most risk for credit card fraud and only 20% of this age group has reviewed their credit report in the last year. Cardholders are taking less action to prevent identity theft. Here are some steps to take to prevent identity theft:

• Review online banking and credit cards often

• Check your credit score

• Activate alerts via text, email, etc to inform you when changes are made

• Review your credit report

• Change passwords to your banking and credit card sites

• Change the PIN on your ATM card

From a group of the surveyed consumers, 41% of cardholders were unaware that they had the option to check their credit report for free weekly due to the pandemic. Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed admitted that they did not plan to take advantage of this free allowance. Checking your credit report every week isn’t necessary but checking it once a month will put your mind at ease and keep you up to date and it won’t do any harm. Once you take a look at the reports one or two times, it will give you a good idea of what it looks like and you will have an easier time finding mistakes and errors, if they were to occur. Consumers who don’t have a credit card or a loan are more likely to feel that they do not need to review their reports as often. There is too much fraud out there to not keep tabs on your file. 

Only half of credit or debit cardholders check their credit score each month and a third of those admit that they do not always review their card or bank statements to ensure accuracy. Women are dropping the ball on checking their reports with only 41% doing so monthly as opposed to men at 59%. Breaking down to different generations, Gen Xer’s are best about checking their scores followed by Millenials. 

The fatigue of the pandemic may be distracting from the focus of identity theft. There has been an economic downturn and rampant job loss which is understandable why some consumers may be more focused on other areas of their personal and professional lives than they are of identity theft. More people are at home more often, so instead of binging out on Netflix during downtimes, we could be keeping up to date on identity theft. 

Most people are hesitant about providing their personal information online but nearly 47% of people with a credit or debit card provided their entire social security number in an online form in the past month according to the survey. In 2019 it was 40%. This increase may have occurred due fluctuations in the job market and people applying for unemployment and onboarding at new jobs online. Even providing a partial SSN causes concern. This puts consumers more at risk for identity theft, which makes checking your reports and statements a priority. 

Seventy percent of cardholders have reported using the “sign in with “Facebook” feature to sign up or log in to various websites. While this is a convenience, using your Facebook account to log into other multiply accounts can be problematic. There has been security concerns about Facebook’s ability to protect personal data. The information you are giving has an increased risk of being exposed which is a major target for hackers. Facebook is a signal site that contains information about you that are useful to hackers. Facebook has a past for not keeping data safe so it is important to proceed with caution when you login to other accounts or webpages. 

Nearly half of cardholders (47%) were victims of a data breach within the last year and 14% of them experienced this harm more than once. Consumers may want to take stronger steps to protect their identity such as:

• Freezing your credit- With a credit freeze, or security freeze, you can restrict access to your credit reports and prevent others from opening new credit-related accounts with your information. You will still have access to your credit reports during the freeze and your credit score will not be affected.

• Sign up for alerts - Many companies are on the market to provide services that monitor for identity theft as well as keeping an eye out for Social Security number scanning. 

• Create safer digital habits - You can set calendar reminders to change important passwords often and learn to recognize the signs of phishing emails and other online scams. It is important to remain cautious when providing personal and financial information online and you may even want to invest in security software for electronic devices. 

Most of all it is important to realize that you, as a consumer, have your financial health and security in your own hands. Nobody cares as much about your credit and money as much as you do. It is vital that you protect your personal information and finances because no one else can do it for you. 

Credit Lock vs. Credit Freeze

Credit Lock vs. Credit Freeze

A credit freeze and credit lock are often confused as being the same thing. Both can block creditors and others from accessing your credit file and opening an account in your name. Both a freeze and a lock can help protect you from identity theft. Typically, freezing your account is free but locks come with a fee.

A credit freeze lets you restrict access to your credit file. This makes it harder for someone trying to steal your identity to open a new account in your name. A lender needs your credit report to determine if you are qualified to receive a new line of credit. When you have a credit freeze in place, your credit report cannot be pulled up and the lender is unable to approve a loan or credit card.

Freezes are free and a bit harder to undo. Freezes are required by law to be free. A credit freeze cannot affect your credit score, prevent you from: opening a new account, obtaining your free credit report, or from theft. If you want to lift a freeze, then you required to have a PIN to unlock it online or you may have to request the PIN in writing.

 Locks aren’t always free and can be easier to open and reapply. It is likely to come with a monthly fee. It will block access to your credit file, like a freeze, so that a new account cannot be opened in your name. To place a lock or a freeze on your credit file, you must first contact the three credit bureaus. A credit lock has no legal protection in place, so credit bureaus are not responsible if a new account has been opened in your name. When you want to lift your lock, you are able to do so instantly online.

 When should you use a lock or freeze? If your credit report and/or other personal information has been wrongly used or exposed, you should use a credit freeze. A credit lock is used more as preventative measures, before anything was to happen. To freeze or lock your credit file, you will first need to contact all three credit bureaus. The first step in knowing if you need to lock or freeze your credit file is to check and monitor your credit score. A jump in your score could be fraud. Check out freecreditreport.com

Indiana Residents - Your Equifax Credit File Is Actually Owned By CSC

Most people know there are three national consumer reporting agencies - Trans Union, Equifax and Experian. However, if you are a resident of Indiana, then your "Equifax" credit report is actually a report compiled from a credit file owned by a company called CSC Credit Services.  CSC owns, manages and controls the file and all information within that file but stores the file on Equifax's database and reports the file through the Equifax reporting system.  If you discover inaccuracies on a credit report prepared by Equifax and you reside in Indiana, you should dispute those inaccuracies directly with CSC which you can do by clicking the following link: CSC Credit Report Disputes.  Note, CSC owns credit files for residents in fifteen (15) mid-western and central states.