‘Making Rent Count’ pilot program to help New Yorkers boost credit score

Comptroller Scott Stringer in partnership with the Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association announced a new pilot program, Making Rent Count.

The program will help New York City tenants establish or boost their credit scores by paying their monthly rent. Working with Banana Kelly leadership, more than 600 tenants across 27 buildings in the South Bronx will now be able to add their rent payments to their credit histories, just like homeowners do for mortgage payments.

Banana Kelly has agreed to report rent information directly to the credit bureaus for those who choose to participate in the program.

In October 2017, Stringer’s “Making Rent Count” report showed disparities in credit scores across the five boroughs. One in five New Yorkers do not have a credit score and nearly one-third of city residents have subprime credit scores.

The 27 buildings in the Bronx in which the program will be piloted fall within three ZIP codes. All three ZIP codes rank among the bottom 10 percent of ZIP codes across the city by median credit score. More than 40 percent of residents in each ZIP code have subprime median credit scores between 600 and 610.