The share of consumers whose rent payments are reported rose from 11% in 2024 to 13% in 2025, the global information and insights company said in a Wednesday (Sept. 10) press release.
At the same time, the share of property managers who are aware of and participate in rent payment reporting declined from 48% to 44%, according to the release. That was the first decrease found by TransUnion in the four years it has been conducting this analysis.
Together, these two trends suggest that consumers may be self-reporting their rent payments through third-party data furnishers, the release said.
“Rent payment reporting is well documented as a means to improving credit scores and financial inclusion, so I’m happy to see that more consumers are empowered to participate,” Maitri Johnson, senior vice president and head of TransUnion’s tenant and employment screening business, said in the release.
TransUnion found that 79% of renters saw their credit score increase when their rent payments were reported.
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The firm also found that property managers benefit when they report renters’ payments to credit reporting agencies. Fifty-seven percent of renters said they are more likely to rent from a property manager who reports these payments, and nearly 80% said they are more likely to pay on time.
TransUnion also said in the release that the Federal Housing Finance Agency issued an order in July mandating that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accept VantageScore 4.0 credit scores for mortgage underwriting, which will allow for the consideration of rent payment history in mortgage applications.
In addition, California now requires property managers to report rent payments to credit reporting agencies, and Colorado now requires property managers to offer rent reporting to tenants, according to the release.
“The regulatory developments we’ve seen in this space are very encouraging,” Johnson said in the release. “The vast majority of renters reliably make on-time payments, and they deserve to leverage that proven responsibility toward home ownership and other financial opportunities.”
When the FHFA announced in July that it was requiring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to implement VantageScore 4.0, it said it did so in response to the Credit Score Competition Act, which requires the validation of more advanced credit score models.
“These new models take into account additional sources of data, including rent payment history, and have the potential to accurately score many more Americans,” the FHFA said at the time.
VantageScore, which is an independently managed joint venture company of the three national credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax, said in May 2024 that the VantageScore 4.0 credit score gives a predictive lift of 8% over conventional credit scoring models.
