How to Report a Tenant to Credit

Reporting a tenant's rental history to a credit reporting agency is a valuable action. It allows tenants who are paying their rent on time to receive positive information added to credit reports or credit files. This can help their credit scores and borrowing abilities. For tenants who are not paying rent or have been evicted, reporting this information to credit agencies can penalize them. Prospective landlords will be less inclined to rent to tenants with negative information in their credit files.

Instructions

1

Gather information about the tenant. This includes payment history and how prompt or late he is with rent. If the tenant has been evicted, include information on when he was evicted and for what reason (late payments, damage to property, failure to follow rental agreement rules).

2

Contact a consumer credit reporting agency. Companies like LexisNexis, CoreLogic, AAA Credit Screening Services and RentLaw collect consumer rental information. The information is provided in consumer reports or specialized tenant history reports. You can call credit agencies with the information but it is better to mail the details to them for documentation purposes.

3

Confirm provided information. Review consumer and tenant history reports to confirm the information you provided was added. This will help to ensure bad tenants are penalized by having evictions or late payments show up on their reports. Good tenants will be rewarded with favorable rental history appearing in their records or reports.