An estimated $1.4 trillion is paid to American landlords’ housing estates each year, but only 20% of those landlords choose to report rent paid. It has a major impact on the credit scores and credit history of millions of Americans.
Reporting rent paid on time to the credit department can significantly increase your credit score, but since it was not traditionally a common practice, some renters have no credit history at all, making them “credit invisible”, limiting their ability to acquire loans, cars, houses, and more. Over 50 million Americans lack the credit history of three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and Transunion.
“We have more than $5.3 trillion left on the table. We have to do better,” said Wemimo Abbey, CEO and co-founder of Esusu, who was named to the 2025 CNBC Disruptor 50 list in an interview on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” on Wednesday.
ESUSU is a credit score reporting service that has recently created a direct line for renters to report rent payments, 75% of the largest rental companies. “We have democratized access because we have long tails of people who don’t live in commercially managed housing,” Abby said.
Esusu has signed with Goldman Sachs, Mercy Housing, Cushman & Wakefield and is responsible for partnerships with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase the number of units nationwide reporting rents as part of their credit.
What is “Credit Invisibility”?
Credit scores ranging from 300 to 850 scale indicate their ability to repay bills, such as credit cards, and manage and limit debt. If your score is low or you have no credit score, the lender will hesitate to extend your money. Or you could charge extreme interest rates on your loan. Some landlords require a credit score on the file to determine eligibility for a rental application, which is not the only data point considered a data point, but may affect the landlord not to approve the application.
According to data from Oliver Wyman, this financial inequality has a major impact on minorities, with around 26% of Hispanic consumers and 27% of black consumers compared to 16% of white and Asian consumers, which is impossible or unnecessarily unavoidable. Additionally, immigrants are more susceptible to invisible influences, as US credit files do not take into account their credit history in the country of origin.
The founder monastery of ESUSU and Samir Goel grew up watching their families struggle financially as immigrants from Lagos, Nigeria and New Delhi, India, which were the founding motivations of Izus, respectively.
“When we came here we didn’t have a credit score. We went to one of the biggest financial institutions to borrow money. We had to turn our backs and borrow from predatory lenders who wanted to lend at over 400% interest,” Abby said. “My mother sold my father’s wedding ring. We borrowed money from a church member. That’s how we started.”
The monastery said that when ESUSU was launched, only 10% of rent payments were reported to the Credit Bureau. ESUSU established credit scores for 250,000 Americans, leading to $50 billion in credit activity, Abbey said.
The startup valuation reached $1 billion based on demand for services.
Increase your credit score by paying rent
Rent is one of the biggest spending for most Americans who don’t own a home. Over 90% of tenants pay their rent on time, but there is no record of that because it has not been reported.
Reports can be initiated by the landlord or tenant. Commercially managed residential services may already be connected to three credit reporting services, but may charge a fee to report.
Renters also have the option to connect directly to rent reporting services such as ESUSU. This charges a monthly fee of $2.50 to report timely payments on behalf of the tenant. A record of the amount paid is expected to be displayed approximately 30 days after it is paid.
However, paying rent is not enough. You need to pay on time. Some agents may miss payments and give you 30 days, while others may not, but that can have a negative impact on your credit score.
In addition to rent reporting for people who have no credit history or are considering increasing their credit score, there are several other ways to build credit. One way to become a certified user with a credit card from a family member or friend is to become a certified user. Obtaining a secure credit card with no annual fees is another option. Using credit builder loans where the bank provides the total loan amount after making a certain number of payments and reports payment activity to the credit bureau is also an option for those with limited credit history or unreliable people.
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