Tell Your Story Effectively: Tips for Building a Good Rental History
Think of your rental history as a report card that follows you around every time you try to rent a new place. Landlords look at it to decide if you're worth the risk, and similar to a credit report, it can affect your potential outcome with a rental property.
What Is Included in Your Rental History?
Your rental history is basically a record of everywhere you've lived and how you did as a tenant. It includes your old addresses, landlord contact info, whether you paid on time, any evictions, and sometimes notes about whether you broke your lease early or violated any terms. Unfortunately, there's no single place where all this information lives. It's spread across different tenant screening companies, court records, and individual landlord files. So if you want the full picture, you might need to do some digging.
How is this Different from a Credit Check?
Credit checks will consider your current open balances, loan history, potential bankruptcies and overall payment record. It will paint a picture of how you stand overall as a consumer.
Rental checks can be used in correlation with a credit check to determine how reliable you could be as a tenant. Rental checks include references, court cases, and rental payment history. Lease violations, how you have left a place (in good shape or not), and evictions are included.
Why Your Rental History Matters
Landlords care a lot about your rental history. It shows them whether you pay on time, follow the rules, and generally don't cause problems. A clean record makes you look like a safe bet. In cities where everyone's competing for the same apartments, having a solid rental history can be what gets you the place.
It also affects how much you'll pay. Landlords who see red flags might ask for a bigger security deposit or complete extra steps before they sign a lease with you.
How to Check Your Rental History
Although obtaining rental history is not as straightforward as obtaining a credit check, you can request rental records from a few agencies, here are some below:
-TransUnion (formerly RentBureau) - Go to MySmartMove.com or contact TransUnion directly. You can get one free report per year if you are a United States resident.
-CoreLogic SafeRent - Request your report through their website. They've got one of the biggest databases of rental payment history out there.
-LexisNexis RentBureau - You can get your report at consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com. Fun fact: If a landlord rejects you based on one of these reports, they legally have to tell you which company they used and how to get a copy. Controlling your data is key to a sucessful renting journey.
Check Public Records
Check your local courthouse or search online court databases to see if anything's there. Some municipalities have this online, others require you to visit in person. Eviction records are public; if you have one on your record, you will want to review your data to have an informed conversation with a potential landlord.
Review Your Credit Report
Your credit report isn't the same thing as your rental history, but as mentioned above, there is an overlap. If you skipped out on rent and it went to collections, or if an eviction resulted in a judgment against you, this can end up on your credit report. Get your free credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com. Every USA resident is entitled to one free check per year, and if any information contained therein is incorrect, you are entitled to contest that information.
What to Do If You Find Errors on Your Rental or Credit History
Mistakes happen more often than you'd think. Wrong names, typos, outdated info—all of it can screw up your chances of getting approved. If you spot an error, dispute it in writing with the screening company. Explain what's wrong and send them proof if you have it. They have to investigate within 30 days and fix anything that's actually incorrect. If you have court case information that is incorrect, a court can seal or expunge this information.
Leave on Good Terms with Previous Landlords
Call or email your old landlords and ask them straight up what they'd say if someone called for a reference. This can give you a heads-up about how they'll describe your time there. Some landlords keep detailed notes that won't show up on any official report but will absolutely come up when the next landlord calls them.
How to Land a Dream Home With a Less-Than-Perfect Rental History
If your rental record isn’t pristine, this isn’t the end of renting, even if you don’t have a friend to share a lease with. You have a few options to improve your chances of landing a great place:
-Write a short explanation in your application about any issues. Medical emergency, lost employment, relationship or health changes can tell a story around a lapse in your rental records.
-Show them improvement. An eviction 7 years ago would likely show a very different lifestyle than you have today. Recent history matters. If you've been a great tenant for the last year or two, emphasize that and get a reference from your current landlord. We would suggest offering this with your application if you have a shaky history.
-Put down more money. Some landlords will overlook a questionable history if you can pay a bigger security deposit or a few months upfront.
-Get a co-signer. Someone with good credit and rental history backing you up can make a landlord feel a lot better about taking a chance on you.
-Try private landlords instead of big companies. Larger property management companies use automated systems that'll reject you before a human even looks at your application. Small-time landlords are more likely to actually consider your situation.
How to Show You Could be a Great Tenant
Pay rent on time, take care of the properties you reside in, communicate with your landlord, and document everything in writing. Rent receipts, lease agreements, move-in and move-out inspection reports, and emails with your landlord. If something goes sideways later, you'll be glad you have the paperwork. When you move out, clean up properly so you can get your deposit back and a good reference. Be sure to always take pictures as well.
If you live with a small-time landlord and want to build your rental history, but they don't report to the big screening companies, you can pay a service to do it for you. Companies like Rental Kharma, LevelCredit, or Boom Report will report your on-time payments to credit bureaus. It'S not free, but it builds both your rental history and your credit score.