My lease says my rent will be reported. Can I opt out?

Not while that lease runs — agreeing to it was part of signing the lease. You can still object to any month before it is reported, dispute anything reported, and your landlord can release you at any time.

From the guide Rent-Payment Credit Reporting.

When the lease requires it

A landlord or manager can require rent reporting on a property. From that day every lease prepared for that property includes a Rent Reporting Addendum before the signatures. It says, in plain words, that the resident’s rent will be reported to TransUnion every month — on time, late or not paid — and gives the notice federal rules require: “We may report information about your account to credit bureaus. Late payments, missed payments, or other defaults on your account may be reflected in your credit report.” It also sets out the 30-day rule, the landlord’s confirmation, the resident’s chance to object, how cash, checks and money orders count, and how to dispute.

  • The resident agrees by signing the lease. The signed addendum is their authorization for that lease; they still add their legal name, date of birth and Social Security number or ITIN on the Reporting screen before anything is sent.
  • A resident cannot stop reporting or switch back to on-time only while the lease runs. They can always object to a month before it is reported, and dispute anything reported.
  • Leases signed before the landlord required it are not covered. The landlord can ask every current resident at the property to sign the addendum on its own; each resident can sign it, by typing their name, or decline it, and declining changes nothing about their lease.
  • The landlord can release a resident from the addendum at any time. That only ever means less is reported.
  • It is not offered in California, Maryland or Colorado, where state law makes rent reporting the resident’s own choice.

Read the whole guide: Rent-Payment Credit Reporting

More questions about Rent-Payment Credit Reporting