Landlords would offer tenants a way to report rent payments

Landlords would offer tenants the option to have rent payments reported to a credit reporting agency. The rule covers landlords renting homes for purposes other than vacation or recreation, including space in manufactured housing parks. Landlords with 14 or fewer homes generally would not have to make the offer. The exception covers certain trusts and businesses. The offer would be made when the lease is signed and at least once a year after that. For leases made before January 1, 2026, landlords would make the first offer by April 1, 2026.

Landlords would provide a written form explaining the choice and how to start or stop reporting. A tenant could choose to start reporting after receiving the offer and could later ask in writing to stop. The form would identify the reporting agencies, say that all payments—including late or missed payments—would be reported, and list any fee. Landlords would provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Tenants could return the form after receiving it, and could ask for another copy. After opting out, a tenant could not restart reporting through the same landlord for at least six months.

A landlord could charge an opting-in tenant a monthly fee capped at the lower of the service's actual cost or $10. This fee would apply only to a tenant who chose rent reporting. Nonpayment could not end the tenancy or be taken from the security deposit. The landlord could stop reporting if the fee remained unpaid for at least 30 days. After a fee goes unpaid, the tenant could not restart reporting through that landlord for six months from the date the fee first came due. The fee itself would not be reported. If a fee stayed unpaid for 30 days or more, the landlord could stop reporting; the six-month wait to restart would run from when the fee first came due.