Paying Rent to Build Credit Is Easier Than It Sounds

Did you know that if you do it right, paying rent can help you boost your credit score? Paying rent to build credit may sound complicated, but it’s actually super easy—and totally worth it. A study by TransUnion found that renters who paid their rent online improved their scores by as much as 16 points within six months, with the increase greatest for those who started with a credit score below 620.

When you pay rent online with Le Med Apartment Homes, your payments get reported to the credit bureaus, it shows that you are a responsible borrower, and it can help you boost your score even more when combined with credit card payments.

We Report Your Payments Automatically

Paying online adds the crucial ingredient of reporting to the credit-building recipe. “Simply paying your rent will not help you build credit,” says Bev O’Shea at NerdWallet. “But reporting your rent payments can help you build credit—especially if you are new to credit or do not have a lot of experience using it.”

At Le Med Apartments, we make it easy. Our online rental payment system automatically reports your payments to the credit bureaus. That way, they receive a record of your on-time rental payments, which helps build your credit. So your easy contribution to paying rent to build credit is . . . paying rent to build credit!

In order to opt in for the credit reporting, follow these steps:

The Credit Bureaus Do the Work for You

When you find out your credit score, what exactly are you looking at? Experian, for just one example, uses these elements to determine your score:

So how do your rent payments factor in here? When you pay rent online, those payments become part of your payment history. As you pay on time and in full and continue to do so, your history becomes longer and keeps looking better.

Paying with a Credit Card Gives Another Boost

Credit bureaus look at your use of credit cards, so here’s something to consider: get a credit card specifically to pay your rent.

Here’s how that would work: “Open a credit card and use it to pay your rent . . . then pay your credit card balance in full each month,” says LaToya Irby, credit expert for The Balance. “The timely credit card payments will help boost your credit score.”

Paying rent with a credit card is totally optional, but it’s an easy way to give your credit score a little boost.

Paying rent to build credit is pretty easy, huh? If you haven’t tried it yet, check out the resident portal to pay your rent next month. We’ll report your payments automatically, the credit bureaus will use the payments to boost your score, and if you pay with a credit card, the score will likely boost even more!