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

LydiaJ

Clutton has certainly said that she would be willing to share a great deal more information about herself and her business than any prospective T has ever asked for.

Clutton - thanks for confirming that the "rogue tenant alert" didn't contain the NINO.

MissMoneypenny

clutton wrote: »

I am sure most landlords dont think of their tenants as scum.... i certainly dont... and it saddens me to think that some tenants think all landlords think like this ... we dont....

You have called them "scroat ".:(

tbs624

LydiaJ wrote: »

Clutton has certainly said that she would be willing to share a great deal more information about herself and her business than any prospective T has ever asked for.

Yes , you're right she has, but from what she has posted about various Ts it would seem that many of them wouldn't know what to ask for, or indeed that they *could* ask for it so her broad assertion actually says very little.

clutton_2

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.....

tbs624

Paul - its good that you are taking the time to read what others' views are regarding your website. It's a shame however, that in your rush to defend your use of Ts personal data you felt it necessary to begin with an aggressive & judgemental paragraph about people who have a view different to your own.. Some of us have, likewise, followed your posts on Property Tribes and noted the "interesting" style of your posts in response to queries and concerns put forward by others.

Let's remember that the vast majority of LLs and Ts have a business relationship that probably falls somewhere between "fair" and "very good", so it is understandable that many Ts may feel unhappy about their personal information being passed around. On a specific issue, as has been said before , NINOs were never intended as a form of ID and they obviously link to personal records which are no business of any LL. What security checks have been made on you,any employees of yours and the end users?

Will read through the rest of your post later and comment further.


In the meantime I see that you have sought to further promote your company via (a) your choice of user name and (b) including your web address.

As a new user, you may not yet have found your way around MSE forum rules, so may I assist you by pointing you in the direction of
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/forum-faqs, specifically the paragraph on Company Representation

"We do not allow advertising of any type on the forum. This is against the forum rules (see Why was my post about my company/site/blog deleted?).

If you see something written about your company and would like a right of reply please see How do I get a right of reply on what's been said about my company?

We also have a very limited number of 'Company Representatives'; these are checked out and verified spokespeople for specific firms. This status is granted entirely at our discretion, where we've identified it as being in forum users' interests."

SingleSue

I'm still in shock at discovering Clutton is female! Goodness knows why, but I always assumed (yes it did make an !!! out of me), that clutton was male.

clutton_2

Hi Sue - thats the marvellous thing about the web and forums - folks often dont have any base information about you so they judge you solely on your words... what does that say about My words Sue !!!

or maybe its just the name "landlord" - landlady sounds like you run a pub.....

there was a fairly lengthy discussion on propertytribes forum a few months back looking for a new name for our profession - but no one came up with one...

neverdespairgirl

clutton wrote: »

or maybe its just the name "landlord" - landlady sounds like you run a pub.....

If you're offering, mine's a double!

:beer:

LydiaJ

HappyLandlord wrote: »

Oh dear LydiaJ – words can be spun anyway you want to make any meaning you want but what I think they mean is that if you are renting for the first time then it is up to the prospective Landlord to make an informed decision based on his searches but if you are pretending it is the first time you have rented because you trashed your last place or did not pay the rent so the Landlord could not pay the Mortgage this will be revealed by the searches!!! As it is the information that would be supplied to LRS by “Freddy the Fraudster” and not the other way round – how could he benefit please?

No that is not what I meant at all. The problem was that LRS's page about how it works does not make this information clear:

HappyLandlord wrote: »

LRS do not impart [NINOs] to anyone and if they are asked to put out a tenant alert because another one has run off with their benefit money or trashed the property then they only use an initial and DOB to identify them.

Now, consider this case:

Mr X has been working in Canada for several years and has recently returned to this country. He wants to rent a house while he looks about for something to buy. He applies to a private LL who doesn't feel quite sure that Mr X is telling the truth (although in fact he is). The LL requests an extended search from LRS.

LRS then sends Mr X's details out to all its members, with no checks on whether they are in fact bona fide LLs or what they intend to do with the information that is sent to them.

The information on the website did not make it clear that Mr X's NINO would not be included. I thought they would be sending Freddie the Fraudster enough info for him to start setting up identity fraud on Mr X. Clutton has now said that that is not the case, and I thanked her for clarifying that. [Paul - I suggest that you make that clear on your website.]

Can I make it clear that I understand very well the problems that difficult tenants can cause - I have friends who have suffered that way. I have no objection in principle to LLs being enabled to identify potential tenants who have absconded leaving rent arrears in the past, or who have damaged property. My concern is with the use of NINOs as ID information, and the general principle of sending out details of people who may well be perfectly innocent to a large number of entirely unvetted members.

Or consider this:

Mrs Y has been suffering in an abusive relationship for some time and decides to get away. She decides to rent a house in another town, and to get her tenancy all sorted out before she leaves her husband. She has her own bank account and enough money to pay the rent, but no renting history, so her LL requests an extended search from LRS.

Mr Y has a friend, Mr Z, who doesn't know that he is beating his wife. Mr Z is a LL and belongs to LRS. He is sent details of Mrs Y as part of the extended search. He bumps into Mr Y at the pub. "Funny thing happened today. There's some woman with the same name and birthday as your missus applying to rent a house somewhere. You've got quite an unusual surname - what a funny coincidence." Mrs Y is now in increased danger.

puddy

totally agree. surely a tenant should be asked specifically whether they agree to their information being sent out on alert. that is different to a credit reference agency holding informaton, they do not send information out on alert, they check it matches with the information coming in and then give a score or rating or information about missed payments etc

there are all sorts of safeguarding issues involved with this