You must always pay your rent on time even if you’re having a disagreement with the landlord. If you do not pay your rent, he or she can evict you that could make renting more difficult. You can also ask for a lawyer’s help if you need to pay the rent and want to settle a dispute with your landlord.
But, can landlords ruin your credit if you fall behind on your payment? Well, landlords may affect your credit scores and reports in particular situations. Below are some of the ways landlords may affect your credit scorers and reports:
- Owed Damages
Once you move out, the landlord has the right to charge you for the damages that they feel you caused to the property. Once you owe them money for the damages and you do not pay in a certain period of time, landlords may send your account to the collection agency that may report your debts to credit bureaus.
- Broken Lease Contract
Once you have decided to get out of the property early and you have a lease agreement with your landlord, you will be responsible to pay for the entire lease unless you and the landlord have agreed on something already. See to it that the said agreement is in writing so your landlord will not sue you later for the remaining amount of money. Once they sue you, the judgment may end up on the credit report of yours.
- Eviction
Another way that landlords may affect the credit score is an eviction. If you’re served an eviction notice, there is nothing you should worry about because you are not yet in trouble. If the landlord takes you to the small claims court or the civil court over eviction and judge rules in favor of your landlord, that judgment would end up in the credit report that may damage your credit severely.
- Rent Default
If you do not pay your rent, the same thing applies. If you cannot pay the rent and get behind, the landlord may report you to the collection agency that would end up on credit report. Once a collection reports to credit bureaus, it will go to your report as delinquency that can hurt the credit more than the late payments or some minor credit infractions.
You should take note that any derogatory record on your credit report will stay on your report for a total of 7 years, which is quite a long time to wait for that details to disappear. See to it that you’re avoiding any particular derogatory records on your report or you might be digging out of the hole for some years. If you like to check your credit score to ensure that they’re in good standing, consider getting a free credit score.
If you want to know more information on how landlords can ruin your credit once you fall behind on your payment, always ask for professional assistance or ask somebody who experienced it before.