This is a big-deal announcement: “As of December 2010, Experian® will include positive rental payment data as part of a consumer’s credit file.”   Sound dry?  Not so:

My numbers are old, but before the recession 50-odd million Americans had no or thin credit reports.  So, if you’re an immigrant with no debt, you automatically qualify for the highest risk, most expensive products, or nothing at all.  Or if you’re a divorcee whose husband took care of the financials, same thing.  Millions of responsible consumers are getting the worst rates and choices for any kind of credit.

A small band of renegades set out to change that, most notably PRBC’s founder, Michael Nathans, on the premise that regular bills that almost everyone pays should and are in fact predictors of someone’s credit behavior.  PERC’s Michael Turner proved it was true.  CFSI pitched the merits to industry. Eric Hartz, Harold Solomon and Peter Hoeve started RentBureau and sold their multi-family business to Experian last year.  Now Experian has actually integrated this database, the largest of its kind, into their general file.  So, if you pay your rent on time, and if your landlord reports to RentBureau, it will contribute positively to your credit score.  For millions of “credit underserved” people this is a big deal.

So, a big YAY to the early renegades, to the founders of RentBureau and to Experian.  This should be a headline in the Journal of these troubled times.