Building your credit through rent payments

“Rent Advantage is a first-of-its-kind Canadian program that allows renters to use their rent payments to build their credit history,” explains Wong.”The great thing about it is that it doesn’t involve having to apply for credit or you don’t have to make interest payments. We’re offering it all for like a monthly fee of $5.”

A Borrowell survey of Canadians with credit scores below 660 found that 68% are renters; nationally, 32% of households identify as renters.

CKPG News reached out to local debt solutions company Beverley & Associates and asked them to weigh in on this new program.

“We haven’t seen the results of this yet. Is it a new a brand-new process. And we don’t know how the credit bureaus are going to be reporting these. We know that Equifax has agreed to have it as a report,” explains Melody Desmarais who is vice-president at Beverley & Associates. “How much credence creditors give this is yet to be seen. So it needs to be tested first before we know that it’s going to be successful.”

Desmarais says it’s also important to read the fine print as this is a self-reporting program.

“You have to register your landlord and the landlord is not necessarily contacted, but it’s linked to your bank account. So every month you have to report that you have paid your rent,” explains Desmarais. “So if for whatever reason you miss the reporting, it can be reported negatively. So people who are not consistent with submitting their reports can see this can hurt them as opposed to benefit them.”

Right now, Rent Advantage is only available for a selection of Borrowell members. The plan is to have the remainder of this program rolled out by the end of the year. You can also put your name on a waiting list for future consideration.

by Randi-Marie Adams

Building your credit through rent payments

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