Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac To Allow Rent Payments In Credit Score

Paying your rent on time may now improve a homebuyer’s credit score. Federal mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now allowing credit scores based on rent and utility payments, to make it easier to qualify for a mortgage.

The head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, William Pulte, made the announcement Wednesday at a press conference. Pulte said, “If you pay your rent on time, you are more likely to pay your mortgage on time,” adding that for decades, the housing system “ignored that simple fact.”