The monthly price of renting in the Myrtle Beach area has hit an all time high. Typical small 1 bedroom condo monthly rentals are now running $1,800 minimum.

However, renters who pay on time are now eligible to get a mortgage, even with nonexistent credit or a poor past credit history. Through rent reporters, a mortgage opportunity is available for both Horry County locals, as well as, all Americans.

Last year, federally-backed home loan investor Fannie Mae introduced a tool that allows lenders to assess if renters pay on-time and to use that information to help them qualify for a mortgage. The move is designed to help more people with limited credit histories or low credit scores become homeowners.

HOW THE TOOL WORKS

After you apply for a mortgage, a traditional lender will run your application through Fannie Mae’s underwriting software to determine if Fannie Mae would buy the loan. (Most lenders will not make a loan Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac won’t buy.)

If Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac refuse to purchase your loan based on traditional inputs like credit score, renters now get another shot.

Would you rather be building equity in a home or paying rent to a landlord?

Rent Reporters now offers this service for anyone who rents and pays timely. Your code CMS30 can be used until 8/11/2022. Please apply this code with your submission at the link just below.

Build your credit by reporting your rent here.

An automated system will scan for records of 12 consecutive months of on-time rental payments. Fannie Mae says its system can identify rent payments made via check or electronically and regardless of where it’s made through a landlord’s payment portal or a digital payment platform such as Venmo.

Fannie Mae estimates that 17% of recent applicants who weren’t recommended for a mortgage would have qualified if rental payments had been taken into consideration.

A disproportionate share of people without enough traditional credit history to qualify for a mortgage are Black, so Fannie Mae hopes the move to include rental payments will be a step toward correcting the racial homeownership gap. Twenty-nine percent of black borrowers point to a lack of credit history as the main obstacle to getting approved for a mortgage.

Anyone can apply for such loans. These loans are based on timely rent payments, regardless of ethnicity.