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Washington,
D.C.
–
In
keeping
with
his
successful
efforts
to
help
creditworthy
Americans
climb
the
economic
ladder,
U.S.
Senator
Tim
Scott
(R-SC)
recently
introduced
bipartisan
legislation
that
would
allow
landlords
and
utility
and
telecom
providers
to
report
on-time
payments
data
to
credit
reporting
agencies.
The
Credit
Access
and
Inclusion
Act
of
2018
would
help
millions
of
Americans
who
currently
lack
the
payments
history
needed
to
take
out
a
mortgage
or
finance
a
higher
education
to
develop
a
positive
credit
history
by
allowing
the
credit
bureaus
to
consider
non-traditional
lines
of
credit.
“If
someone
works
hard
day
in
and
day
out,
pays
their
bills
on
time,
and
has
demonstrated
they
are
financially
stable,
that
should
be
reflected
in
their
credit
score,”
said
Scott.
“Many
of
the
folks
who
are
negatively
impacted
by
the
narrow
scope
of
the
data
used
in
credit
scoring
are
also
among
the
50
million
Americans
who
live
in
distressed
communities
across
the
country.
We
can
help
close
this
gap
by
recognizing
the
individuals
who
deserve
access
to
credit
and
have
proven
beyond
a
doubt
that
they
are
ready
for
this
responsibility.”
Current
credit
score
models
only
consider
traditional
lines
of
credit,
which
exclude
records
of
rent
or
utility
payments.
This
limited
approach
has
resulted
in
26
million
Americans
who
are
considered
“credit
invisible”
despite
their
established
history
of
paying
these
bills
on
time.
For
example,
studies
show
that
17%
of
South
Carolina
adults
could
be
scored
by
modern
credit
scoring
models
if
lenders
had
access
to
data
on
rent
and
utility
payments.
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