Tenants - are you happy for your personal data to be shared ?

Patrick20

ali_pasaul wrote: »

As a tenant you are protected and you have rights and the law will prosecute landlords and imprison them for falling you, as a landlord if you fail a landlord we have nothing at all, LRS is just giving us the opportunity of equality and fairness and I cannot for the life of me see why that is wrong.

Its the way its done that is concerning people. Peoples private(not public) information that only they should know(and maybe some people who absolutely NEED to know it should have access to it)
If you want more powers for Landlords then by all means write to the government, start a group, campaign etc. This sort of information should not be in the hands of a company that no-one knows and that no-one is aware that their details are on it. If its not illegal then it should be .

ps. I wonder what Martin's view on this subject? If anyone can get this some more attention on this subject its this chivalrous fellow.

theartfullodger

Dunno if anyone else has mentioned this but the LRS website is dreadful from a design point-of-view and his UK map is way-way out, especially for Northern Scotland...

My own view is that the k**b 'ead who set it up will get a visit from the authorities and get shut down... I do hope so...

Cheers!

Lodger (Landlord)

neverdespairgirl

tbs624 wrote: »

It's kinda funny that ali pasaul has the same "breathless" style of writing as Paul

And the same font from cut n' pasting, too. Very strange...

neverdespairgirl

ali_pasaul wrote: »

If you say so!! the only thing we have in common is we are landlords and on the front line, can I ask what profession you are in as it always interests me where people’s perceptions lie about issues on these threads especially one like this.

I'm wholly against this database idea.

I'm a barrister, for your (nosy) information.

neverdespairgirl

You said you were interested in where, professionally, those who loathe this intrusive database are coming from.

john539

There has no been no scrutiny of what is happening so any problems are not easily seen.

We don't know, because problems are hidden.

No doubt one day, bad data linked to a tenant will cause them a problem & expose the problems it can cause.

sp1987

ali_pasaul wrote: »

Sock puppet you say, and that is it ? quite frankly I find your responce rather embarrassing and that of a 2 year old however a two sided debate you say, where is the other side? Ah that’s right he got his comments taken off and got barred from the site , well that would make it one sided then actually there is no debate here if it wasn’t for me Cluttons and happylandlord it would be a landlord !!!!! slapping thread by nimby tenants you barred the only person who could tell you the truth!!!!

If you are going to be rude about a response of someone else, surely you would learn to spell the word first?! I purposely ignored the "addenda" or whatever attempt came earlier as it could have been a one off typo but it seems sloppy typing may be a sign of your approach to issues more generally.

Your reply is instead one of a two year old. Nimby tenants?!

I relish the opinions of people like clutton who are literate, articulate and don't talk to other people like they are simpletons when quite the opposite is seemingly the case. Differing opinions are what actually creates a discussion board but dafties who can't even remember if they have tapped a dot two keys away from m in the previous 10 minutes make having a discussion prohibitive.

I've not read sentences as long and windy as yours in quite a long time and gave up until I could see anything like an exclamation mark before starting again.

millym

I still think the site is open to abuse. I'm sure it's creator is a decent person, who wants to help other LLs and the basic idea is a good one, but it's how it works that worries me.

For instance, what checks are done on the LLs that register? What's to stop a rogue tenant pretending to be a landlord and giving themselves or other dodgy Ts a glowing report?

What's to stop a dodgy LL discrediting a good T that has complained about them? Quite a few people on here have had trouble with LLS that could lead to the LL labling them as troublemakers?

I had my handbag stolen last year, with all my personal info in it, including bank details and photo ID. How do I know that there is not someone out there who has a tenancy based on my info, that could lead to me being blacklisted?

Does the site require proof BEFORE accepting a LLs word that a T has rent arrears/did a bunk/damaged property etc?

To me, there are just too many flaws, too many ways that a dodgy LL or T could use the site for reasons other than it was created.

As a decent human being, I generally see anything that prevents other good people from being ripped off/whatever as positive, and something that I would readily support. I just think that steps need to be taken to tighten the way the site works up.

For instance, if LLs have to verify their identity and property ownership, and possibly pay a memebership fee, plus send proof to support allegations against their T, then it might work. Surely it would be better to start the database with new Ts being advised that their details will be registered, along with the implications that this carries, than go by old data?

For instance, a guy who shared a student flat years ago may have left it in a mess, but now rents with a partner who would leave their place pristine. Also, for some people the thought of being blacklisted would be enough to ensure that they played by the rules in future, even if they've been poor tenants in the past.

clutton_2

it is always useful to get another rational perspective thanks Lydia and sp... and milly

i do understand Lydia's concerns... whenever i am presented with a prospective tenant who

does not have a current landlord to whom rent payments are made and can be identified or
who cannot show me proof of mortgage payments being made regularly in recent months,
or who is reluctant to show me bank statements, or
who cannot find a guarantor or
who can only give me mobiel phone numbers for references

i am then always concerned about a possible inability to pay my rent....

I hope you can see from this list - that new tenants who do have bank statements to show me, who can get a guarantor, who have a good credit rating, and whose information checks out on the Experian/Equifax/Letsure etc. Credit Referencing Agencies are most unlikely to be referred to LRS by me...

its only when i feel suspicious, when things " just dont add up " that i would put in a request for LRS for a previous landlord's reference.....

i know that LRS want all landlords to upload details of all their tenants, as they want to be seen as a Referencing service, but, in reality i think most landlords will think of them as a Bad Tenants database... whether that is their intention or not...


I will probably be flamed for this. but since we are having full and frank discussion......

As has been proposed a few times in recent weeks on this forum, the problem with having an exact exchange of sensitive personal information from LL to tenant and then from tenant to LL is that, in my view, the relationship between the two parties of an AST is not an equal relationship - unlike for example a Joint Venture - wherein each "partner" forms a joint and equal relatioinship and there is then a legal level playing field and a partnership has trust between the partners.........

This is not necessarily true of the Landlord Tenant relationship - in this adversarial interaction each "side" thinks that the other side has the most level part of the playing field and that the law is more on the side of the other side than on theirs.. and nothing can be said to change those entrenched views.....

But i dont think there is equality and i dont think there ever will be.... A property owner (landlord) is offering the caretakership of a VERY expensive asset to another person they have known but for a few minutes.... whilst on the other hand, a tenant is being given a home by someone they have also only known for a few minutes...... this is fraught with dangers, and trust is a big issue here... on both sides...

Legally, each has differing legal duties and responsibilities

But because of the AST legislation and the length of time it takes to get legal possession, landlords have been losing a lot of money in possession cases and have, in recent years, been adopting a more aggressive approach to tenant verification on the basis that prevention, and a few months voids, is better than a bad tenant.

Local authorities gate-keeping policies have made this even worse in terms of getting tenants out.

No landlord wants to tar good tenants with a bad reputation - why would they ? Good tenants are worth their weight .....

But equally, why shouldn't other landlords know about a few scroat benefit cheats who are going the rounds stealing from one landlord after another ? Why should these folks steal all our taxes and be allowed to continue to do so ?

In the same way why should scroat landlords be allowed to continue treating tenants poorly.?

We sometime forget there has been a lot of legislation in the last 10 years to tighten things up for tenants' benefit and tenants here rarely acknowledge the forward-looking measures which were brought in as a result of Governments attempts to crack down on poor landlording.. tenancy deposit schemes; HMO legislation; Scottish landlord register; Selective licensing; HHSRS; H&S regs; Gas Regs.... and so on ...

All these things have made life better for most tenants..

Landlords may now find that LRS can make their lives a little better also.....

MissMoneypenny

clutton wrote: »

Miss MP - WHEN will you stop misquoting me .....

the ONLY tenants i have ever called Scroats are those who receive LHA/HB and then spend it on other things bjut not the rent ......

these people are thieves and are stealing tax payers money.... Scroat is a polite term for them.....

Which means that you have called tenants "scroats", so I haven't misquoted you.

Just out of interest, do you know what "scroat" is short for?