MSE News: Rent payments to go on your credit file

jjlandlord

Experian_company_representative wrote: »

We want all tenants to be able to benefit from this going forwards, so no one loses out.

Hmm, how do you propose tenants might benefit from this with respect to the current situation?

I'm guessing that it would make 0 difference if rent was always paid on time, but it would obviously degrade the credit score if it was not.

rdchick

"The Rental Exchange will strengthen people's credit histories, helping them to access a wider range of credit deals."

My issue isn't that markers are placed on my file to say I pay the rent on time but I'm not 100% my partner has a rosey credit report (we do not share finances) if he doesn't then I won't either if our files are linked... It's not like a bank will say 'oh it's ok they don't share finances' they will see it as 'stear clear her bloke can't handle money properly' (if that's the case) so I lose out?!

jamie11

Signing a joint tenancy agreement will also link you with others on that agreement which means if they have a poor credit history, whether as a result of their rent payments or anything else, it could count against you.

Well that seems clear enough. I can see the end of any joint and several contracts when the ramifications of that find their way into the renting public's awareness.

propertyman

I have to agree a rental tenancy is not a credit agreement ( unlike a mortgage) in any shape or form and frankly must be subject to privacy between the parties.

I suspect that the agencies are looking for replacement income streams, not opportunities and benefit for the renter.

elkay115

What happens when DWP makes a mistake and decides to end your claim for no reason which then stops your rent payments. Happened to me just before Christmas and took me a month to ge things sorted out with my rent!

Callie22

As a tenant, I'm getting absolutely sick of all these intrusions into my life. Not only can my landlord upload pretty much anything they like about me on sites like landlordreferencing, now a bunch of incompetant fools (i.e. my letting agency) are going to be able to mess with my credit record. Things like this should not happen unless landlords and letting agents are much more heavily regulated, so that tenants can have genuine redress if something is done, accidentally or spitefully, which damages their ability find somewhere to live.

There are so many parts of the private rental sector that are left, more or less, to self regulation. If you have a responsible landlord, great, if you don't, you suffer and there's not a lot you can do - just look at the mess that was made of deposit protection. I really, really don't want anything to do with my financial data to end up being managed in the same way.

mynameisclare

I'm sure this will do nothing to help the already extornionate fees agents charge for referencing.

squeeks

budgetdiyer wrote: »

Needs work on the exact implementation, but a fantastic idea and would work well if implemented.

Mortgage payments show on a credit record, so should rent payments.

Mortgage companies are regulated, estate agents and landlords aren't to the same degree.

This is a rental agreement not a purchase or borrowing of money of goods on credit. Car rentals don't go on your credit history, hire purchase or loans to purchase a car do.

If you buy your home outright without a mortgage, there is no credit record. If you aren't borrowing money for goods from anyone why should it be of any concern to your credit history.

However, if this means that you no longer have to pay rent up front, but instead get billed between 1 and 6 months in arrears and can dispute the bill if the LA/LL fails to, say keep up with maintenance or repairs during your occupancy; then I agree with you. It does sound like a great idea.

squeeks

Experian_company_representative wrote: »

If someone gets their credit report and highlights a discrepancy with rent data we will mark the data as disputed while we investigate for them.

...

James Jones

James,

This is all very well, but should this be implemented, then I would be responsible for regularly checking the credit file that you hold about me, to ensure that someone who probably doesn't have the best financial acumen, let alone business practices has decided to put duff data on your files about me.

Now to do this I have to pay the credit agencies a fee to check my data often and waste more of my time in the process.

Shouldn't it be the credit agencies responsibility to notify someone that data is being stored about them, rather than requesting it?

It isn't like the data credit companies hold about me isn't valuable to them, perhaps they should pay me, rather than charge me to make sure the data they store about me isn't in dispute!

AshtonBRSC

Experian_company_representative wrote: »

We won't be loading historical data, so we certainly won't be linking people to their ex-partners.

You are ignoring the real problem here. The worry is being linked with future ex-partners.

Will you wipe the data and connection with a partner when they split up? I very much doubt it so your comment is rather disingenuous.