Evans unveils positive rent reporting program

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Rochester renters can find support to establish or improve their credit scores through a newly launched positive rent reporting program. 

The program, in partnership with Credit Builders Alliance, offers an opportunity for those who aren’t typically engaged with financial and credit systems to build their scores by having records of their on-time rent payments sent to credit bureaus. There will be no penalty for late or missed payments, the city says.

“Positive-only rent reporting is about providing opportunities, particularly for Black and Brown residents, to participate in the mainstream financial system by building credit,” Mayor Malik Evans in announcing the program. “This initiative opens doors for renters with poor or no credit gain access to mortgages, traditional loans, credit cards, and other financial services to achieve economic security.”  

Over six months, the program expects to equip participating affordable housing providers with the tools to do that reporting. Residents must opt-in to have their on-time rental payments reported to a credit bureau. 

These program participants will also have access to the city’s financial counseling program, the Financial Empowerment Center, to help them achieve financial and credit goals.

Three providers—Rochester Housing Authority, Hart Homes, and Rosey Property Management—have agreed to be part of the program. At the end of the six-month training, each organization will receive a $6,000 incentive to pay for the service provider to submit on-time rent payments to credit bureaus, the city says.

Rent reporting programs have shown success in other cities. For instance, CBA and the Colorado Housing Finance Authority found that positive rent reporting increases tenant engagement, on-time rental payments and credit visibility.

Still, an Urban Institute report last year found that while there is a positive correlation between credit scores and on-time payments, few renters know about it and some don’t believe it is possible. For success, awareness is key, the report finds. 

Living Cities and the ESL Foundation provided grants for the program. 

Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor. 

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2 thoughts on “Evans unveils positive rent reporting program

  1. “There will be no penalty for late or missed payments, the city says.”

    Why? Is paying ones rent late or missing the date entirely not a part of ones credit score?  A much more fair and honest approach would be to allow for these factors as well, so as to have a “complete” credit history (based on a timely payment history), as opposed to one that doesn’t include negatives such as not making your payment on time, or not doing so altogether.  I mean, if this approach is to be a road to ever greater financial stability due to a positive credit score accompanying you over the years; why then would the city not include this very important part of the overall equation.

    It pains me to say this, but once again, Rochester city officials have good intentions in mind when it comes to facilitating programs like this – only to squander the benefit under the guise of “equity” and “unequal outcomes” for those in the Black and Brown communities. 

    That said, I fear you’re doing them no real favour here, opting instead to help create a worthwhile credit score, while simultaneously not being completely transparent in the execution of the process itself. 

    From my vantage point, all this will seemingly do will be to give any number of poorer people a better chance of getting a housing loan that down the road they will not have the requisite true credit history in place, and the receipts to show for it, in actually burdening them even moreso financially, and being unable to pay for the housing the credit score engendered or brought to bear.

    This cannot have a good ending for either the residents that may at some point qualify, nor the program or city once it becomes unavoidable to witness the eventual financial destruction it causes, versus what was initially promised vis-a-vis this program. Recipients have to know that now qualifying for a home loan that wasn’t directly attributable through an honest and fair credit program result, can, if not accomplished fairly, be a road to even more financial distress, and with consequences for these good folks months or years down the road.

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