S.B. 76 Residential Rental Payment Reporting Amendments

What this bill does

The bill lets landlords choose to offer their tenants reporting of on-time rent payments to credit reporting agencies, instead of requiring it. Under the amended version, landlords may charge optional fees for this service and may limit how many tenants can enroll.

Plain-English summary written by AI from the sponsor’s presentation in committee and on the floor. Check the official text below.

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Every vote

• 7 yes, 0 no, 1 absentSenate Business and Labor Committee: vote to change the bill · Feb 18, 2026Who voted how
• 6 yes, 1 no, 1 absentSenate Business and Labor Committee: vote, which it did not pass · Feb 18, 2026Who voted how

Hearings and debates

• Jan 26, 2026 Senate Business and Labor Committee
• Feb 18, 2026 Senate Business and Labor Committee▶ Watch
  Transcript (29 turns)

  1. Committee chair (presiding)55:37

     Senator Plumb, uh, Senate bill 76. Residential rental payment reporting amendments. I do notice that you have a, a substitute online. Is that, are you going to address the substitute or, I Would love to move the substitute forward and, and distress and address That. Why don't you, why don't you explain that and yes. And maybe the changes in your bill, and then we'll go from there.

  2. Sen. Jen Plumb56:00

     Alright. Members of the committee, I don't know why this room is so nervy, but it is, um, I'm here today to talk about a bill that we had come up with and with the concept of helping first time home buyers move forward. Something we talk a lot about Up here. Lemme just, uh, I, I, I think as your intern, just hand us a handout. Is this something you want us to pass on? Committee, please. If you can just hand it to the, we're gonna have a little credit score school while we're at it this morning. And, and this bill really did come from a place of trying to help, uh, Utahans become first time home buyers. Something that we've tried to find ways to do up here. And I certainly don't think I have the checkbook writing power to, to, to cut the checks on it. But any of the steps that we can take to help people get toward that, I think are good steps. And one of those pieces of becoming, uh, uh, able to buy a home is to have the credit for it. And some of you may not know this about me. Back in the nineties when I was putting myself through med school, I actually worked as a realtor, worked for my uncle for several years, and I was kind of the first time home buyer person, whether that was just the folks that I was drawn to, drawn to, or perhaps the new people coming in that didn't already have someone established. And so I watched as people basically had their dream of home ownership come true. First home I ever sold was 49 9. Those days are long gone. I think we can all agree, but it really is something to be able to set something in motion like that. And, and I can tell you the first person I sold the home to still has it. And, and it's now worth over half a million dollars. And that person has set up a whole different future for themselves and for their family, which I think is something that we all would like to be a part of. Now, this is just a little thing, but building credit. Without credit, you can't get a mortgage. And depending on what your credit is, you may not be able to get a very good mortgage, or you may not be able to get a, a, a mortgage that you can afford credit. For example, if you have a five 80 to a, say a six 40 ish, you may be able to get a loan, but you're probably gonna get less than favorable rates and terms on your, on your loan, six 40 to 700, you're qualified, but your rates are probably not gonna be as great. 700 to seven 50, pretty strong. You're gonna get good rates over seven 50. You're looking at really great, great rates and great opportunities, different loan options. There's FHA loans, there's standard loans, VA loans. I don't need to read this whole, uh, kind of info piece for you, but there's things like, what are your upfront costs going to look like? What are your mortgage insurance, your PMI, what's that gonna cost on top of it? And what's your total cost of home ownership over time going to look like based on where your credit is? So as people are building credit, what can you do? You can get loans, right? You can get a car loan, you can get credit cards. Any of you learn the card lesson on credit cards that I learned. That's not how I want, especially our young folks to be building credit, is by junking up a whole lot of credit card debt. So this concept that our renters, especially those who are paying on time and who are doing what they're supposed to do, could have the option to have their credit reported out as positive, not just as negative if they don't make it really made sense to me. So the bill started out with a shall and and I, after having conversations with people, realized maybe that's a little bit too big of a bite. So the sub is actually to change it to a may, that this is a may. Um, owners of rental properties may provide renters an offer of rent reporting at the time of that they enter into a rental agreement. They may charge a fee to cover the cost of that service that the, basically the renter would be paying for. That does provide a consequence for the renter failing to pay the fee provides the renter may enroll in Unroll and unenroll in that reporting at any time. Um, it does prohibit them from re-enrolling or trying to re-enroll after six months if they did fall through with that. And it only applies if an entity owns one or more residential rental units or an individual owns more than 16 rental units. I feel like this is just a little start, it's a may, it's not a shall. And and I have heard pushback from some that, that perhaps they would feel better about it if they could charge an additional fee. And I know there are administrative costs with all the things that we do, but this seems like a, a pretty low, a low ask for something that's potentially really high yield within one year of paying rent. Uh, you could potentially reach a 700 credit score if you've had good reporting. And if that's all you've got, you're on your way. So with that being said, I I have a co-presenter here who had helped me, uh, as well come, come up with this concept, if that's all right, to have him speak a bit. Thank you.

  3. Committee chair (presiding)1:00:59

     Yes, please. Yeah. Identify yourself, who you're representing.

  4. Alejandro Puy, Salt Lake City Council1:01:03

     Thank you. Uh, Mr. Chair. Uh, my name is Alejandro Pui. I serve on the city council in Salt Lake City. Uh, and the, the reason, uh, why I am here in support of, of this bill, uh, and I prepare a statement, but, uh, I'm gonna start with a, a personal experience, uh, better. So, uh, I like knocking on doors. Uh, you know, that would not be surprise for some, I like talking to my neighbors. Um, and my part of town is the best way to find out what their concerns are. Um, and one of the thing, the thing that I heard the most is I've been renting here for 20, 30 years. Uh, and many of my neighbors been renting for decades, uh, in, in our own city, uh, and across the state. And with declining, uh, home ownership rates, uh, we see this problem becoming more apparent. Um, many of them, uh, pay more in rent that they could pay in a mortgage. Um, but they don't have the credit to show their, their good work to make, make those payments. Um, and I, I'm here in support of this bill because I know it recognizes the simple truth. The paying rent on time, month after month, month after month is the clear and responsible financial behavior and in declining home ownership rates in our state as this is a key piece to solve some of our bigger problems. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

  5. Committee chair (presiding)1:02:30

     Thank you, Senator. Does that conclude your presentation? Yeah, it,

  6. Sen. Jen Plumb1:02:33

     It essentially does. I, I really just am hopeful that, um, the addition of the sub, uh, moving it to May gives us a little more footing, uh, to do this. I also think it's good for landlords, if you have a tenant that you can look and see they've been making all of their payments, that's actually really good for landlords too. Okay. So with that, I would, if I could move the sub.

  7. Committee chair (presiding)1:02:56

     Okay. Let's come back to the committee. Um, got a couple lights on. Senator Ipson.

  8. Sen. Ipson1:03:00

     Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, I make a motion that we delete entitled Body Senate Bill 76 and replace it with first substitute Senate bill 76.

  9. Committee chair (presiding)1:03:10

     Okay, that motion's in order, uh, the motion to substitute in, uh, any questions or comments to that motion discussion? I assume Senator Mussman, you had a question, not a discussion on the motion. Uh, okay. We'll go ahead and place the motion. All in favor of the motion to substitute, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Saying na Aye. I believe we got everyone. Uh, that'll rule. That passes unanimous. Eight to zero.

  10. Committee chair (presiding)1:03:36

      Okay. To the substituted bill. Senator Musselman Appears as amended.

  11. Sen. Musselman1:03:42

      The bill doesn't expand rent reporting opportunities. It just regulates the actual report rent reporting. Right? It doesn't expand it because you're not requiring it. It's volunteer. It's, but you're putting guardrails on that reporting, right? It's setting up a pathway, I would say. But I hear what you're saying, but I do hear what you're saying that it does it, the, the opportunity and option still remains without it. So, to follow up, Mr. Chair reporting already, already happens. I get that. Not, not, not on a widespread scale, but certainly the free market allowed for rent reporting and that rent reporting right now is growing, I think naturally. And my concern is by putting guardrails on it, even though you're not requiring, now, you're putting guardrails on caps and fees and restrictions on re-enrollment and all those things that you're simply going to inhibit the, the kind of the free growth that's taking place in the marketplace. That's my concern.

  12. Sen. Jen Plumb1:04:39

      If I'm, am I mis Yeah, please. I, I hear you. I, I don't see it that way, but I hear you. I think that a lot of times, or sometimes even, we need to break seals on things and, and make things, norms or make things routine. But I also, I, I see what you're saying and I, I, I can see that angle.

  13. Committee chair (presiding)1:04:55

      Thanks, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Senator Sandall.

  14. Sen. Sandall1:04:59

      Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, this may have been covered in a, but I'm gonna repeat kinda what's been in my mind over this. Thank you. One for moving from a shall to a may. Uh, but, but I'm still concerned, uh, in, in the private sector that we're requiring or beginning to require, uh, private businesses to help other people, uh, increase their credit. And, and I don't think that's where this burden should fall. Uh, I think people should increase their credit based on them being able to do what they need to do. And so, um, I'm still having a real struggle with this bill file, but that's, that's my comment. Thanks.

  15. Committee chair (presiding)1:05:35

      Okay. Thank you. Um, any other questions from the committee? Anyone online? Okay. Anyone in the public? We'll come to the public, then anyone in the public that'd like testify. Let's see. We've got three hands, uh, in the room. I'll slide. Do you have any line yet? Okay. Please come forward. Uh, appreciate it. If you'd be brief as possible. We do have two chairs, so please come fill 'em up. Remember to identify yourself, who you represent, and as you leave, if you'd sign the log.

  16. Nick Lloyd, Attorney, Utah Rental Housing Association1:06:05

      Uh, thank you Mr. Chair, members of the committee. My name is Nick Lloyd. I'm an attorney here in town with the Utah Rental Housing Association. The landlords, um, we, well, I understand what the good Senator Vickers is trying to do here. Changing it from a shall to a may. We still have significant concerns with the bill. Um, you know, I think this is a situation where changing it to a may, you're, you're telling landlords, okay, you can opt into this if you want to, but if you do opt in, here's all these hoops you have to jump through. Here's all this red tape you have to navigate. And so I think that the practical reality of, of changing it to a MA is that it's actually going to disincentivize landlords from engaging in its emerging market of offering rent reporting. The other concern that we have is, you know, if you think about credit reporting and, and the idea behind credit reporting, we're looking at somebody's past behavior to try and gauge their future behavior. You know, if you paid your bills in the past, you have a good credit score, you're more likely to pay your bills in the future. Alternatively, if you haven't paid your bills in the past, you have a bad credit score, you're less likely to pay your bills in the future. And the language of the bill kind of undermines that, uh, that premise for that concept. If you look at line 49 of the bill, it says that a landlord would, uh, report rent payments quote, regardless of whether that payment complies with the terms of the lease agreement. So even if a, a tenant pays their rent late, or even if a tenant only pays part of their rent, the landlord is limited to just report that the rent was paid. Um, I think that speaks to the fact too, that, um, a tenant can opt out of rent reporting. You know, if a tenant knows that they're coming up on hard times, knows that they're not gonna be able to pay their rent, they can just opt out of having that reported, um, and avoid the, the consequences that might come with their failure to uphold the terms of the lease agreement. Um, and so for that, we're, we're opposed to the bill.

  17. Committee chair (presiding)1:07:47

      Thank you. Next, um, Al Bingham.

  18. Al Bingham, resident1:07:52

      Um, I'm a media consultant. I do with CNBC, with, uh, USA today and CBS nationwide and locally even. Um, there's a thing here. We've done this story actually multiple times, but there's some things to understand. Um, mortgage lenders use what they call a legacy FCO scores, the classic FICO scores. Um, and they do not account for rent or utility payments. A lot of people don't know that. They don't. They're over over 80. There are 88 different credit scores out there. And the legacy FICO scores is the ones used by mortgage lending for house lending. And so the challenge you have here is you put rent into a credit report. It's not gonna factor into a credit score. It's not. And so we're going through all this challenge of trying to help someone's credit, and it's not gonna help them. It's not, it's gonna help their consumer scores, but it's not gonna help their real lender's credit scores. So getting from a six 80 to a seven 20, it's not gonna do anything for that. And so, I hate to put water on this, but I'm just telling this straight truth. You, you talk about rent, utility payments, all these other things that they've tried to put in your credit reports, they impact a consumer score that you see on your credit card payment and all these other, you know, credit websites, but they don't impact the classic FICO scores. And so, really to have this understanding, you put this requirement in there, it's not gonna help the home buyer. And I hate to put water on this, but the way you do it is you go in and get a hundred dollars secure credit card, start building credit that way. That's the way this thing works. So now one of the last thing, I mean, could they migrate to a thing? I went and checked the trading desk and they have asked lenders to migrate to new models. We have not seen that yet out there. And, uh, I think there's a lot of hesitancy by lenders and investors to go that route because of some of the leniencies with utility and landlord payments. So, anyway, thank you. Thank you.

  19. Committee chair (presiding)1:09:54

      Do we have anyone online that's wanting to testify? Okay, this will be our last public testimony. Please go ahead.

  20. Justin Allen, Government Affairs Director, Utah Rental Housing Association1:10:01

      Thank you. Uh, Justin Allen with the Rental Housing Association, and just wanted to start by thanking Senator Plumb. We've had a great dialogue about this. Uh, we spent some time with Councilman Pooey on the phone as well, and are, are committed. Um, even though we don't, we don't support, um, this bill even, even in the substituted form. 'cause we still have concerns about codifying this and, and especially the part about, um, you know, kind of putting this administrative burden on people without being able to recoup any costs of that time. And we still have concerns with the bill, but we still commit regardless of, of how, of the outcome of this session here. We do think that there's a lot that can be done, uh, through education, both the landlord side and the tenant side to help them understand how they can build their credit. And we're committed in, uh, we're working on some new educational resources through, uh, the residential property manager license training. And we've, um, discussed putting some additional resources related to this and that training. And so definitely want to be a part of finding some solutions in this space. But, um, um, don't support the bill at this time. So thanks for your consideration. Thank

  21. Committee chair (presiding)1:11:06

      You. Okay. Thank you. We'll conclude, uh, public comment and come back to the committee for further deliberation or action. Senator Sandall.

  22. Sen. Sandall1:11:25

      Thank you. I'm gonna move, uh, that we move to the next item of the agenda.

  23. Committee chair (presiding)1:11:29

      Okay. Do you wanna speak to that?

  24. Sen. Sandall1:11:31

      Yeah, I, I just think, uh, I've got enough concerns about it. I think the, we need to keep the bill file in the possession of the, of the chair, um, going forward.

  25. Committee chair (presiding)1:11:42

      Okay. Um, discussion of that motion back to you, Senator Plumb on that motion. Yeah.

  26. Sen. Jen Plumb1:11:51

      No, I, I appreciate the opportunity to have these conversations and the dialogues and, and I think that, um, we have a lot of work to do in our communities in terms of supporting our, our, our tenants. I understand the landlord side of it too. So I think that, um, messaging out of the legislature that shows that we're actually, um, pro all of the parties is something that can be great. And keeping this potentially alive in conversations happening is, is part of that. So I, I appreciate the opportunity for the dialogue to have happened.

  27. Committee chair (presiding)1:12:22speaker not certain

      Okay. Senator Handling further submission. All.

  28. Unknown speaker1:12:24speaker not certain

      So, Earl, I'll waive, excuse me. Thanks. I'll waive some, Some it, but all thank you.

  29. Committee chair (presiding)1:12:30

      Okay. We'll place the motion. The motion is to move to the next item on agenda, which would hold the billing committee. Uh, could potentially just explain to the public it could potentially come back. Uh, the sponsor can work with the committee members and see if there's a direction that she'd like to go with it. And so we'll place that motion. All in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Say nay. How many do we get on? Look? No. Okay. Got, I think that was picture, wasn't it? Okay. So we rule that passes six to one with Senator Pitcher voting in opposition. Thank you. Okay.