People who pay their rent on time can establish credit scores, or even raise lower scores, if the payments are reported to credit bureaus, according to VantageScore data cited by the New York Times.

An Urban Institute study utilizing VantageScore data showed that rent reporting leads to “large, statistically significant increases” in the likelihood of having a score that reaches at least 601, or VantageScore Near Prime.

Positive rent reporting excludes late or missed payments as a means to help people obtain or improve credit scores without taking on extra debt. Traditionally, rent has not been included on credit reports, as it is not considered debt. VantageScore was the first credit scoring model to incorporate rent payment data into a consumer’s credit score. Including rental data provides a more comprehensive and inclusive assessment of credit risk, particularly for individuals with limited credit history or no credit history at all.

To learn more about building credit and access VantageScore’s consumer education resources, please visit https://vantagescore.com/consumers/.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/your-money/credit-scores-rent-payments.html