Experian Acquires RentBureau Multifamily

Experian will now offer credit-building opportunities for responsible renters and expand its suite of products for the resident screening industry

Experian, the global information services company, just announced that it has purchased RentBureau, the largest and most widely used credit bureau for the multifamily industry.

The acquisition provides Experian with the most comprehensive rental payment database to offer property managers and resident screeners a more accurate and complete picture of renters. It also offers renters an opportunity to build credit with continuous on-time rental payments.

At Experian, we see this acquisition as part of our ongoing efforts to capture the total picture of a consumer’s payment record, said Steven Wagner, president of Experian Consumer Information Services. We recognize the value that this information being on file brings to non-credit-active, cash-based consumers, and we intend to leverage Experian’s brand and scale to grow this area of our business quickly.RentBureau’s database receives rental payment histories every 24 hours from its national network of apartment owners and managers, which currently includes more than 7 million residents nationwide. Members of this network furnish their rental data to RentBureau directly and automatically from their property management software. In return, members receive immediate, centrally stored, integrated verification of new applicants’ payment history as part of their existing apartment applicant screening services. Experian also will offer its resident screening partners this robust data to significantly reduce the risk of skips, bad checks, evictions and property damage.Additionally, the planned inclusion of rental history in credit files promises a great benefit for renters, especially those among the United States’ 50 million underbanked consumers. RentBureau is the largest neutral repository available to all resident screening companies to collect both good- and bad-performing rental histories, allowing consumers to actually build or rebuild good credit by paying rent on time as agreed.

In the past, only a subset of negative rental behavior, such as evictions and collections, were reported to consumer reporting agencies, and on-time rental payments did nothing to boost a credit score. In the near future, rental lease payments will be leveraged by consumers to qualify for new leases or other financial products.

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