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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 19, 2022 04:34 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Jimmy Dillon |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Rent Reporting |
| In the near future, I will be introducing legislation designed to promote positive financial health and encourage the building of personal credit. This bill amends the Landlord Tenant Act to require landlords to offer rent reporting to a tenant who has lived in the same unit for at least one year. Rent reporting is the process by which a landlord would report a tenant’s ongoing payment history to a major credit bureau. Rent reporting serves two main purposes, beneficial to both landlords and tenants. First, by creating an opt-in credit reporting opportunity for long-term tenants, Pennsylvanians are able to impact their credit score with positive reporting. Credit reporting currently occurs between lenders and homeowners with outstanding mortgages, and my bill would give renters the same opportunity. According to the Consumer Bureau of Financial Protection, over 26 million Americans are considered to be credit invisible. Meaning that these individuals do not have enough information on record to have a scorable credit. Credit impacts our ability to obtain emergency loans, apply for employment, find housing, and get a vehicle loan. Lower credit leads to increased interest rates, costs, and so much more. Our credit score impacts all parts of our financial lives and despite its significance very few people know much about how it works. Second, this legislation stands to benefit landlords to create additional accountability measures, provides more detailed tenant histories when searching for new tenants, and comes at no cost to landlords. My legislation would only apply to landlords with 15 or more residentially leased units and would authorize the landlord to charge a fee to cover the costs of reporting. Our current credit scoring system focuses on the negative and compounds the penalty of higher interest rates, higher fees and less opportunity for low-income families. A simple solution is to provide the tools to Pennsylvanians to have their positive payment history reported so that people can have equal opportunity to the benefits of good credit. Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation. |