This pilot program helps people improve their credit scores just by paying their rent on time
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Usually, only late rent payments get reported to credit bureaus, which can hurt credit. Now, tenants living in the affordable housing units involved in the program get a bump in their credit scores when they pay rent on time.
If renters make late payments, their landlord might charge a penalty fee and report that late payment to credit bureaus, hurting their credit score. And unlike mortgage payments, paying rent on time doesn’t automatically build credit. For low-income Americans—only half of whom have access to a credit card, and who are more likely to rent than own—that means it can be a hurdle to build credit.