Renters make their biggest monthly payment on time, month after month, and their credit score never knows it happened. That missing data now contributes to the primary reason mortgage applicants face denials.
Insufficient credit history was the leading cause of mortgage denials in 2025, edging out debt-to-income ratio for the first time, according to a Zillow analysis of federal mortgage data.
Credit history was cited in 32.88 percent of denials for conventional home purchase loans, compared with 32.86 percent for debt-to-income ratio, per the company’s review of 2025 mortgage data collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.
That could change if on-time rent payments counted toward credit scores. Nearly 4 million renters could reach a VantageScore 4.0 score of 620 or higher, the threshold for mortgage eligibility, if their rental payment history were factored into their credit score, according to a VantageScore analysis of more than 600,000 renters, using data from Esusu.
Zillow has reported more than 1.78 million on-time rent payments to credit bureaus for free since launching its rent reporting program in 2024, according to the company. More than 78,000 renters had payments reported in July, the most in a single month since the program began and up 26 percent from a year earlier, Zillow said.
Michael Sherman
“Affordability is the headline in housing right now, and access to financing is a very important part of the story,” said Michael Sherman, general manager and senior vice president of Zillow Rentals. “Credit history is a barrier standing in the way of too many potential buyers. Rent reporting is a direct way to address that.”
Zillow expanded the program to all renters in November 2025 through its CreditClimb tool, powered by Esusu, extending eligibility to renters who don’t pay rent through Zillow or use its rental platform directly.
