In what could be a boon to renters looking to build a credit history (or bad news if you have a roommate who always delays your rent), credit reporting agency Experian has begun incorporating data on rental payments into its reports.

Experian gets the info from RentBurea, a company it acquired last June. And starting in January, it began using the data gathered by RentBureau to add to the standard list of payment histories — credit cards, mortgages, retail accounts, installment loans and finance company accounts — on its credit reports.

The company says it’s the only of the major credit reporting agencies to include residential rent data in standard reports. Transunion has a subsidiary that can provide such information to landlords but does not use it on its reports.

But before you on-time-rent-payers get excited, RentBureau currently only has data on 8 million tenants.

Would you want your rental payments being included in your credit report?

Experian adds rent payments to credit reports [ChicagoBreakingNews.com]

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