In an initial tenancy application, I appreciate the agent on behalf of the landlord may wish the tenant to provide evidence of income, bank statements, etc. Is all of this private documentation passed on to landlords or does the agent do a summary report of suitability for the LL?.
I have nothing to hide, but just concerned how many people will have copies of my private details.
My estate agent does not pass anything on to me but I have never asked for it
If I used an agent, I’d want copies of everything. I may need it in the future eg to enforce payments etc
How might you do that with such information?
You would only need a copy of the contract you would not need bank statements etc to enforce payment
Data would need to be stored in accordance with ICO regulations
I wouldn’t ‘need’ bank statements, but they along with other reference information, job info etc might help me form an opinion on ‘if’ or ‘how’ to enforce payment.
The landlord has a right to get copies from the agent as they are his principal. The agent’s GDPR privacy notice should make clear who tenants data may be shared with. If they havent given you a copy, ask for it.
When I used agents, I asked for all documentation to be passed to me as I had a legitimate need to access this because it was ultimately my decision as to whether an applicant should proceed with a tenancy. I never let an agent install a tenant without first going over this paperwork and being assured that they were right about recommending them.
Now that I don’t use an agent, I have a data processing notice that applicants sign to say they’re aware of my policy and how they can get their data, what I do with it, how I store it and when I destroy it… all in accordance with ICO’s recommendations.
I would never process an application without seeing 6 months of bank statements. These are a crucial part of the application process. However, once the tenancy is live, they are irrelevant to any enforcement that I may need to carry out later on.
Yes, I agree about the bank statements. My privacy notice says that I will use any bank/credit card statements I ask for as part of the application process and then immediately delete all copies. I think that any very sensitive data of this sort needs that kind of treatment.