Landlords Have a New Hardball Tactic: Tanking Your Credit Score

Landlords are turning to a hardball tactic to go after their tenants in rent disputes: tanking their credit scores.

When David Murray moved out of his St. Louis apartment two months early, he thought he had settled up by giving notice. So when he received a bill for $4,500 for two months rent plus penalties, he assumed there was a mistake. Then his credit score fell from a near-perfect 815 to a low of 630.