Re: How to report tenants' credit? - Landlord Forum thread 327614

Re: How to report tenants' credit? by Bill (MD) on November 19, 2014 @11:31

Generally it is prohibitively expensive to report to the credit reporting agency. Most small to even med size landlords will not pay the appropriate fees to do this. To be "anointed" by experian/equifax/trans-union you have to run your business for so long and and to prove certain business practices. You then pay big fees to get access to their credit reporting portal. In addition I was told once we report to the credit reporting agency our notes are considered "accessory information". So It doesn't carry the same weight as lets say a bad CC or something like that.

When you take them to court and get a judgement against them it shows up in their judicial record for that state. THAT IS FOREVER. IT NEVER GOES AWAY..... (unlike a credit report) When they go for another landlord or property a BC (background check) will be done and instantly see your name and the tenants name. Even the property address and judgement amount. This stays on their record for a long as they live on the face of earth.

Even if you file a P&Q and they pay up before the court date it will show a dismissal. It will still show amounts and everything else. So it will have a record that you were their LL and they rented at that address. This is also good because they have a hard time trying to cover up that they lived there. Then when you get a call for reference you give them a earful...

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Re: How to report tenants' credit? by Joe (Michigan) on November 19, 2014 @14:43	[ Reply ]

Thank you, Bill. I wish I could report bad tenants (and praise good tenants) easier. Going to court is always not fun at all for small landlords like me. How could those big guys, like utility companies or cell phone companies, report our payment delays so quickly and easily? When I did tenant credit check through certain paid services, I see tenants' payment history immediately - including how many days delayed and how much paid or not paid. The big guys do not always go to court. They only give a warning notice, then report the credit. How easy for them and how hard for us!

Re: How to report tenants' credit? by Bill (MD) on November 19, 2014 @21:07	[ Reply ]

Maybe the big landlords (management companies) have paid fees to report to the Credit Reporting Agencies. They manage so many properties and make so much money that it is worth it for them. They have more ability to "hurt" the tenants from being late. It's part of the reason why I think small landlords (1 to 5 units) fall prey to doodie tenants. Tenants who have bad credit and/or evictions probably have a higher chance to get a place from a private landlord. Maybe he/she will feel sorry or don't do the BG check properly. Also when a landlord "sticks it to a tenant" it's more personal v.s. when a management company does the same. Management companies have more resources to property screw a bad tenant over and experience doing so v.s. small landlord.