{"id":139,"date":"2021-10-15T14:52:54","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T18:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/35.182.98.210\/?p=139"},"modified":"2022-07-25T22:37:29","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T22:37:29","slug":"new-hope-for-first-time-homebuyers-tenants-can-now-use-rent-payments-to-bolster-credit-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139","title":{"rendered":"New hope for first-time homebuyers? Tenants can now use rent payments to bolster credit reports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Original Article: https:\/\/www.mpamag.com\/ca\/news\/general\/new-hope-for-first-time-homebuyers-tenants-can-now-use-rent-payments-to-bolster-credit-reports\/286743<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Landlord Credit Bureau’s sharing of rent data with Equifax could benefit countless Canadians<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TORONTO, ON \/ CMP \/ Nov 02, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a refrain Mortgage Broker News<\/em> readers will be all too familiar with: \u201cWhy isn\u2019t my credit score better? I pay my rent<\/a> every month. How can that not matter?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rent is the biggest monthly expense for independent Canadians who don\u2019t own their own homes. Paying it on time isn\u2019t always easy. For thousands of Canadians, paying rent <\/a>requires making a choice between meeting one financial obligation or another, but they overwhelmingly make rent a top priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That such responsible behaviour has traditionally been ignored by Canada\u2019s credit bureaus while credit card purchases and auto loans are given outsized importance is a dichotomy many rejected borrowers will fail to wrap their heads around. Why should a dozen late Visa payments spread over a period of years do damage to a credit report <\/a>while a decade of on-time rent payments aren\u2019t even considered?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an attempt to smooth out that perceived imbalance and help renters build more robust credit histories, the Landlord Credit Bureau<\/a> recently started sharing rent payment data with consumer reporting agency Equifax. By sharing the information as a tradeline and thereby becoming part of a tenant\u2019s credit score, LCB CEO Zac Killam says renters\u2019 payment histories will carry weight with \u201cany credit granter who is reviewing a credit report to make the decision whether you\u2019ve been responsible with your financial history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Premier Mortgage president Don MacVicar says the rent data\u2019s status as a tradeline means lenders may view it in much the same way they would a mortgage payment. They can also use the amount paid in rent to calculate a renter\u2019s \u201cshelter shock\u201d levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor example, if one pays $1,800 in rent, it would be reasonable to determine that one could afford a mortgage payment and property taxes for the same amount or higher when looking at affordability,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landlords or renters can sign up to be a part of the LCB<\/a> platform. If renters are the ones signing up, they will need buy-in from the landlord before any data can be shared. Landlords who take part must register their tenants and report each one\u2019s rent performance \u2013 paid, paid late, didn\u2019t pay \u2013 on a monthly basis. Renters have the opportunity to log in, review their tenant records, and dispute any discrepancies or errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsible tenants are given the option to share their positive rent histories. Delinquent tenants, however, will automatically have their information sent to Equifax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdding depth to credit bureau data is always helpful,\u201d says Equitable<\/a> Bank vice president Paul von Martels. \u201cIf we see an applicant\u2019s history of consistent payments, we\u2019re certainly better off. Likewise, if someone has a checkered past of paying rent, we\u2019d like to know!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Borrower benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program could be a boon for two key demographics: young Canadians and newly arrived immigrants; groups that, because of their short or non-existent credit histories, often struggle to demonstrate their creditworthiness to lenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can help those people build their credit report<\/a> more quickly by putting their largest monthly expense onto their credit report,\u201d Zac Killam says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

InTouch Mortgage Solutions\u2019 Anthony Venuto agrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis would be a great measure if used and recoded properly by landlords,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reporting rent performance could also help renters with poor credit who have nonetheless established a history of always paying their rent on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese people may have made financial missteps previously, but they\u2019re not able to recover from them because landlords are pulling credit reports that haven\u2019t included rent data,\u201d Zac Killam<\/a> says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another group that stands to benefit is renters who have had their incomes disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic but are still paying partial rents. By agreeing with their landlords to an alternate payment plan \u2013 and actually sticking to it \u2013 these renters can still receive positive tenant reports from their landlords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is actually a way in which people can be improving their credit report despite being in a financially difficult situation,\u201d Zac Killam says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although he believes in the platform as a whole, Venuto has one reservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy fear is that landlords may use this in an unethical way to possibly charge higher rents or cause issues,\u201d he says.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That hasn\u2019t been the case so far. Zac Killam says \u201cmore than 90 percent\u201d of the tenant records have been positive in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre they using this to reduce late payments and delinquencies? Yes, but overwhelmingly they\u2019re also using it to reward responsible tenants,\u201d he says, adding that the landlords and property managers using the platform have experienced a 36 percent decline in late payments and delinquencies, dramatically improving property owners\u2019 net operating incomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now a landlord himself, Zac Killam says his squeaky-clean history as a renter, if incorporated into his credit report, could have made his own homebuying journey that much shorter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout question, including my 16 years of on-time rent payment onto my credit report would have enabled me to jump into buying my own home much more quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a refrain\u00a0Mortgage Broker News\u00a0readers will be all too familiar with: \u201cWhy isn\u2019t my credit score better? I pay my\u00a0rent\u00a0every month. How can that not matter?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rent is the biggest monthly expense for independent Canadians who don\u2019t own their own homes. Paying it on time isn\u2019t always easy. For thousands of Canadians, paying rent requires making a choice between meeting one financial obligation or another, but they overwhelmingly make rent a top priority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":426,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cmp","category-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nNew hope for first-time homebuyers? Tenants can now use rent payments to bolster credit reports - FrontLobby News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s a refrain\u00a0Mortgage Broker News\u00a0readers will be all too familiar with: \u201cWhy isn\u2019t my credit score better?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New hope for first-time homebuyers? Tenants can now use rent payments to bolster credit reports - FrontLobby News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s a refrain\u00a0Mortgage Broker News\u00a0readers will be all too familiar with: \u201cWhy isn\u2019t my credit score better?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FrontLobby News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-15T18:52:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-25T22:37:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/0287_637398933396534705.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/62b65e3fcd530264e0c1c3e1ee4a019d\"},\"headline\":\"New hope for first-time homebuyers? Tenants can now use rent payments to bolster credit reports\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-15T18:52:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-25T22:37:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139\"},\"wordCount\":885,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/0287_637398933396534705.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"CMP\",\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139\",\"name\":\"New hope for first-time homebuyers? Tenants can now use rent payments to bolster credit reports - FrontLobby News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/0287_637398933396534705.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-15T18:52:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-25T22:37:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"It\u2019s a refrain\u00a0Mortgage Broker News\u00a0readers will be all too familiar with: \u201cWhy isn\u2019t my credit score better?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/0287_637398933396534705.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/0287_637398933396534705.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":666},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New hope for first-time homebuyers? Tenants can now use rent payments to bolster credit reports\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/\",\"name\":\"FrontLobby News\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"FrontLobby News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/FLNFinal.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/FLNFinal.png\",\"width\":395,\"height\":78,\"caption\":\"FrontLobby News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/62b65e3fcd530264e0c1c3e1ee4a019d\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a693bbb69fc4926745a878be4430a9a4d6a74b29e68af5855dc5e8a3db44e86e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a693bbb69fc4926745a878be4430a9a4d6a74b29e68af5855dc5e8a3db44e86e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:frontlobbynews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New hope for first-time homebuyers? Tenants can now use rent payments to bolster credit reports - FrontLobby News","description":"It\u2019s a refrain\u00a0Mortgage Broker News\u00a0readers will be all too familiar with: \u201cWhy isn\u2019t my credit score better?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New hope for first-time homebuyers? Tenants can now use rent payments to bolster credit reports - FrontLobby News","og_description":"It\u2019s a refrain\u00a0Mortgage Broker News\u00a0readers will be all too familiar with: \u201cWhy isn\u2019t my credit score better?","og_url":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139","og_site_name":"FrontLobby News","article_published_time":"2021-10-15T18:52:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-07-25T22:37:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":666,"url":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/0287_637398933396534705.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/62b65e3fcd530264e0c1c3e1ee4a019d"},"headline":"New hope for first-time homebuyers? Tenants can now use rent payments to bolster credit reports","datePublished":"2021-10-15T18:52:54+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-25T22:37:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139"},"wordCount":885,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/0287_637398933396534705.jpg","articleSection":["CMP","Press Release"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139","url":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139","name":"New hope for first-time homebuyers? Tenants can now use rent payments to bolster credit reports - FrontLobby News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/0287_637398933396534705.jpg","datePublished":"2021-10-15T18:52:54+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-25T22:37:29+00:00","description":"It\u2019s a refrain\u00a0Mortgage Broker News\u00a0readers will be all too familiar with: \u201cWhy isn\u2019t my credit score better?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/0287_637398933396534705.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/0287_637398933396534705.jpg","width":1000,"height":666},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?p=139#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New hope for first-time homebuyers? Tenants can now use rent payments to bolster credit reports"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/","name":"FrontLobby News","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#organization","name":"FrontLobby News","url":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/FLNFinal.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/FLNFinal.png","width":395,"height":78,"caption":"FrontLobby News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/62b65e3fcd530264e0c1c3e1ee4a019d","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a693bbb69fc4926745a878be4430a9a4d6a74b29e68af5855dc5e8a3db44e86e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a693bbb69fc4926745a878be4430a9a4d6a74b29e68af5855dc5e8a3db44e86e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:frontlobbynews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":427,"href":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions\/427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontlobbynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}