MSE News: Rent payments to go on your credit file

tbs624

I was trying to be polite....;)

tbs624

FATBALLZ wrote: »

This is just money making for experian and another potential blackmail for LLs to hold over tenants.

That's the bottom line.....

FATBALLZ wrote: »

The basic fact is that out of all the 'businesses' out there, {tbs edit - have thanked your post but would prefer to add "some of" } the people who work in property rentals are unquestionably the thickest out there, amateur landlords who don't know even a fraction of the law and letting agents run by school dropouts are the rule rather than the exception. These people cannot be trusted with peoples credit files. And as has been said many times a rental agreement is not a credit agreement, and has no place on a credit history.

As for this only applying for tenants who 'consent' to it, yeah, like people 'consent' to getting guarantors, and 'consent' to paying extortionate 'referencing' fees. Tenants will have no choice, this will be forced on them like it or not.

Agreed.

Thrugelmir

Road_Hog wrote: »

There is no credit agreement, just a business transaction. It is no business of the credit agencies. If they don't pay, then I (through the lettings agency) would ask them to leave.

and if they didn't?

squeeks

Thrugelmir wrote: »

and if they didn't?

You would go through the normal eviction process. I can't see how this wold be different with credit agencies involved, except perhaps to encourage tenants to be even more stubborn and difficult as it will be harder for them to become someone else's [STRIKE]problem[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]meal ticket[/STRIKE] tenant.

It doesn't matter how bad a tenant is, at the end of the day they still have to live somewhere. Housing unlike credit isn't something you can just stop using while you get the slate wiped clean with a bankruptcy order. - okay bankruptcy isn't quite that simple but you get the idea.

corbyboy

I wonder if the Experian Company Representative could outline who exactly would be able to record data?

I am very concerned that individual private landlords not connected to a LA would be able to blacken somebody's credit file.

Can you please clarify exactly what the criteria will be?

millym

corbyboy wrote: »

I wonder if the Experian Company Representative could outline who exactly would be able to record data?

I am very concerned that individual private landlords not connected to a LA would be able to blacken somebody's credit file.

Can you please clarify exactly what the criteria will be?

Yeah, given that I once had a loony LL, I'd like to know that too!

Also, does this mean that LAs and LLs will now have access to Ts FULL credit files, rather than just ccj/bankruptcy records? If so, should they not then be regulated by the FSA or whatever? What would be the criteria to decide who has access and who is able to add data?

If CRAs see it as perfectly normal to collect this kind of non-credit based data, how come they don't show payment records for gas/electric/water/sky etc etc?

I smell a rat

Experian_company_representative

millym wrote: »

Yeah, given that I once had a loony LL, I'd like to know that too!

Also, does this mean that LAs and LLs will now have access to Ts FULL credit files, rather than just ccj/bankruptcy records? If so, should they not then be regulated by the FSA or whatever? What would be the criteria to decide who has access and who is able to add data?

If CRAs see it as perfectly normal to collect this kind of non-credit based data, how come they don't show payment records for gas/electric/water/sky etc etc?

I smell a rat

We've made it clear that LLs and LAs won't be able to access your credit account history data, but you will be able to give a lender permission, when you apply for credit, to incorporate your rent payment history data into your credit score.

LLs and LAs will be restricted to checking rent data and public financial data.

We already provide a referencing service for LLs and LAs but the rent data element is a manual process, ie contacting past landlords for references. What we're proposing is a much better system for them to exchange data with each other, with the option for tenants of allowing the data to strengthen their credit profiles.

We do hold details about utilities already, including gas, electricity, broadband, TV, fixed and mobile phone contracts. In relation to water, at the moment this is restricted to water debts that go to the courts, but I would expect that to change quite soon. The water companies are very keen to share repayment data with other providers of credit-driven services.

On the fees you pay to see your data, you currently pay a £4 charge to conduct a search of the register of court judgments. You can get this and the other information we hold for just £2.

James Jones

JimmyTheWig

Experian_company_representative wrote: »

with the option for tenants of allowing the data to strengthen their credit profiles.

James, you must see that this is something of a moot point. Either the scheme will fall flat, in which case it is all a bit of a waste of time, or the scheme will take off and be widely used and so someone opting out of this scheme will find themselves in difficultly to get accomodation.
It would also look unfavourably for those not mortgaged or renting, e.g. those who own outright, those living with parents, etc.

On the fees you pay to see your data, you currently pay a £4 charge to conduct a search of the register of court judgments. You can get this and the other information we hold for just £2.

While this is clearly good value (I can't think of any other service, right now, where you get so much for such a small one-off cost) it is still £2 that we wouldn't have had to spend if we didn't think that an organisation had recorded the wrong information about us.

Experian_company_representative

Well on your first point, this is exactly why we're constantly exploring new relevant data sources to try to give everyone a great chance of building a strong and detailed credit report, to support future applications for goods and services. While the UK already has one of the strongest data-sharing systems in the world, we're still on a journey trying to fill in the gaps for people.

We work hard to promote data quality and, of course, most reports don't include mistakes. But encouraging consumers to check their own data is an important part of this work and, I'd suggest, something we all need to get used to in a data-driven world.

James Jones

JimmyTheWig

Good answer, James. Purely from your company's standpoint, but a good answer!