Credit History

Credit history is the record of a person's borrowing and repayment kept by the credit bureaus. It lists accounts, balances, late payments, collections and bankruptcies, and it is the raw material a credit score is built from.

A landlord reviewing an application reads the credit history for signs of trouble paying bills: accounts in collections, a past eviction judgment, or debt owed to a former landlord. Those can sink an application that passes the 3x rent rule.

Applicants with little or no credit history, including many students and recent arrivals to the country, often get the same treatment as applicants with low income: a request for a guarantor. California bars landlords from using credit history against applicants with a housing subsidy unless they are offered another way to show they can pay.