Did you know that you can get credit for the rent you pay if your landlord uses a certain online rent payment service? Better yet, the use of the service to pay your landlord and to report your rent to a credit bureau will be free to you as a tenant (your landlord pays a small service fee for automatic rent collection)! If your landlord does not already use ClearNow (www.ClearNow.com) have them sign up for the service and use it to debit your rent each month automatically.
Credit Scores Are Important
As you are probably aware, a good credit score nowadays has countless benefits. Whether it is a credit card or an auto loan, a higher credit score means lower interest rate on a loan. Additionally, nowadays everyone from landlords to employers may run a credit check on you when you applying for a new apartment or a new job.
Rent Payments Can Build Credit History
Since 2011, Experian, one of the “Big 3 Credit Bureaus”, has allowed tenants to build credit by reporting rent payments. ClearNow was the first service to partner with Experian to offer this service to renters who use a small landlord. To this day, ClearNow (unlike other services!) does not charge the tenant for this benefit.
Ask Your Landlord To Use ClearNow
It is a no brainer for you as a tenant to have your rent reported to a credit bureau for free! Will your landlord be willing to sign up for ClearNow so that this can happen? If you ask, most landlords are willing to pay the small service fee ClearNow charges when they realize that rent will be automatically debited from your bank account and sent to their bank account, reducing the work for both of you. So text them a link to www.ClearNow.com and ask if they can debit you for rent automatically!
