Let your rent history make your journey to homeownership easier

If you’ve been renting and dreaming of owning a home, your credit history might feel like the one thing holding you back. Maybe you’ve avoided credit cards to stay out of debt, paid for things in cash, or never had a reason to take out a loan. Or perhaps unexpected challenges like medical bills, job changes, or student loans have made it harder to maintain strong credit.

Whatever your situation, having limited or less-than-perfect credit doesn’t mean you’re bad with money. If you’ve been consistently paying your rent on time, you’ve already proven you can manage a significant monthly expense. The issue is that traditional credit scoring models haven’t always taken that into account, until now.

What is VantageScore?
The good news is that things are starting to shift. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now accept VantageScore as a credit scoring option for home loans. This is a big step forward for renters.

Unlike the traditional FICO® score, which often overlooks rent payments, VantageScore can factor in your history of paying rent on time. That means if you’ve been consistently covering your rent each month, that effort could now help improve your chances of getting approved for a mortgage, even if you haven’t used credit much in other areas.

Why rent payment history matters for first-time homebuyers
Starting July 2025, Vantagescore can be used as an approved credit scoring model for mortgage evaluations by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Unlike the more traditional FICO score, which often requires a longer credit history and a mix of credit accounts, VantageScore is designed to evaluate people with limited credit or poor scores.

One of VantageScore’s standout features is that it can include alternative data, such as on-time rent, utility, and phone payments, when available. That means if you’ve been consistently paying your rent, even without a credit card or auto loan, that positive payment history could now work in your favor when applying for a home loan.

This shift is aimed at making homeownership more accessible to responsible renters who haven’t had a chance to build traditional credit. By using a broader set of data, VantageScore helps create a more complete financial picture and gives more people a fair shot at buying a home.

How to make your rent payments count
With this new tool in place, you may be closer to homeownership than you think. Here are a few simple steps you can take to make sure your rental and other payment history can count towards your future mortgage financing:

• Find out if your rent is being reported to the credit bureaus. If not, you can use a rent-reporting service to make sure it is.

• Talk to a lender who works with VantageScore. Not every lender has adopted it yet, but more are starting to.

• Review your complete credit profile before applying for a mortgage to make sure all your information is accurate and up to date.

Let’s explore your mortgage options together
Buying your first home may be challenging, but your credit history shouldn’t hold you back. So if you have a solid history of making your rent payments on time, this could be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for to become a homeowner, even if your credit is limited. So let your rent history work for your homebuying dreams. Reach out to book a consultation with your local PRMI advisor to talk through your financing options. We’re here to help you take the next step toward owning a home. http://GetHomeFinancing.com

*FICO® is a registered mark of Fair Isaac Corporation.