Positive Rent Reporting

Resentment can quickly form between landlords and tenants, but it does not have to be that way. In many rental properties, especially those owned by small-time landlords, there simply isn’t enough money to go around, and each party blames the other. Even when the rent is more than a third of the tenant’s income, the landlord still fails to break even when making even the minimum repairs. Even worse, tenants pay more of their income than they can afford toward rent each month, and their credit reports do not reflect this; since they cannot save money for a down payment, they are no closer to being able to qualify for a home mortgage. Meanwhile, even though the landlords may have to contribute their own money to cover the mortgage, or even borrow, they build equity in the properties with every mortgage payment. You may not be able to promise that your tenants will never see a mouse or a roach, but you can use rent reporting apps that boost tenants’ credit scores, as an incentive for them to rent from you instead of from anyone else, and now those apps even come with features where the credit reporting bureaus only find out the good news. To find out more about how and why to implement positive rent reporting apps in your residential rental business, contact a Washington, D.C. real estate lawyer.

Sending Your Tenants Good Vibes Only

One of the biggest sources of frustration for landlords is vacant apartments. Housing is prohibitively expensive these days, and there is only so much that landlords can do to make their rental units affordable. Meanwhile, one of the biggest sources of frustration for tenants is that, when they pay rent, they are paying their money into a void, where they are not building any equity in the places where they live. If you cannot substantially improve the condition of your properties with the budget you have now, and if you cannot lower the rent beyond what you currently charge, you can give new tenants an incentive to move in, and current tenants an incentive to stay, by using rent reporting apps. When you subscribe to a rent reporting app, the app sends data to the credit reporting bureaus each month about each participating tenant’s rent payments.

When the apps first became available, some tenants hesitated to participate, because late rent payments would reflect badly on their credit reports, just as they would without the rent reporting apps. Many tenants are in a precarious financial situation where they often pay rent later in the month than the deadline set by the landlord. Recently, rent reporting apps have started to introduce positive rent reporting features. If your rent reporting app has this feature, it reports tenants’ rent payments only when they pay on time, and it stays silent about their payments when they pay late.

Contact Tobin O’Connor Concino P.C. About Spreading Positive Vibes in Your Rental Property

A Washington, D.C. real estate attorney can help you and your tenants look on the bright side in difficult times.  Contact Tobin O’Connor Concino P.C. in Washington, D.C. or call 202-362-5900.

Source:

nytimes.com/2025/06/20/your-money/credit-scores-rent-payments.html