Dive Brief:

• A change by two of the big three credit-reporting companies may help home-seeking first-time buyers who cannot persuade lenders that they are credit-worthy because they do not have a mortgage history.
• Experian and Trans-Union say they have begun to include verified rent-payment histories in credit calculations.
• That should help at least some first-time buyers, the group that everyone seems to agree is a missing link in the housing recovery because of tight credit following the lax lending standards that led to the housing collapse.

Dive Insight:

There now is a fourth, alternative credit agency that will count rent and other payment histories that the major agencies ignore. Would-be borrowers are entitled to demand that a lender to whom they are applying consider a report from ECredable.com.