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Urgent! Advice needed with potential landlord

lucy_w86
Posts: 827 Forumite
Hi,
We are hoping to rent a property privately but the landlord wants references and income up front as we claim housing benefit.
Would it be wise for me to scan copies of paperwork over or should I hide certain information for safety?
Thanks
We are hoping to rent a property privately but the landlord wants references and income up front as we claim housing benefit.
Would it be wise for me to scan copies of paperwork over or should I hide certain information for safety?
Thanks
0
Comments
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What "certain information" for safety?
Have a look at the risk the landlord could be taking by offering you a tenancy with insufficient income to cover the rent and balance that against any risk you might be taking by disclosing your personal information.0 -
BitterAndTwisted wrote: »What "certain information" for safety?
Have a look at the risk the landlord could be taking by offering you a tenancy with insufficient income to cover the rent and balance that against any risk you might be taking by disclosing your personal information.
He wants scanned copies of income and housing benefit claim as proof. Is it safe to email this?
Thanks0 -
If you want the property then you'll have to comply with his wishes. Landlords willing to take a risk on tenants who patently can't afford to cover the full rent with their own income are pretty thin on the ground.
What sort of risk do you think you might be taking by disclosing the kind of info they are asking for? They could be taking a far greater risk by offering you exclusive use of a property worth tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of pounds.0 -
BitterAndTwisted wrote: »If you want the property then you'll have to comply with his wishes. Landlords willing to take a risk on tenants who patently can't afford to cover the full rent with their own income are pretty thin on the ground.
What sort of risk do you think you might be taking by disclosing the kind of info they are asking for? They could be taking a far greater risk by offering you exclusive use of a property worth tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Thank you very much.0 -
If you're uneasy about sending personal information electronically (and you have every right to be), then you could print a hard copy of the relevant documents and give/post them to the LL, thereby avoiding your information getting hijacked somewhere in the ether.0
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If you're uneasy about sending personal information electronically (and you have every right to be), then you could print a hard copy of the relevant documents and give/post them to the LL, thereby avoiding your information getting hijacked somewhere in the ether.
I would think that incidents of postal mail tampering vastly exceed incidents of people's email being snooped upon. Especially if you delete the entry out of your sent mail box afterwards.
However, printing the stuff out / taking a photocopy will make it easier for you to blank out any parts that you consider sensitive, such as sort code and account number on bank statements, etc. and then it won't really matter if a light-fingered royal mail employee takes a look, either.0 -
I would think that incidents of postal mail tampering vastly exceed incidents of people's email being snooped upon. Especially if you delete the entry out of your sent mail box afterwards.
However, printing the stuff out / taking a photocopy will make it easier for you to blank out any parts that you consider sensitive, such as sort code and account number on bank statements, etc. and then it won't really matter if a light-fingered royal mail employee takes a look, either.
As a general rule, you shouldn't send by email you wouldn't be prepared to put on the back of a postcard. Your email may be secure, but you can have no control over your potential landlord's.
Generally, he has no need to *keep* details of your claim (one of the principles of data protection is that info should be kept only as long as and for the purpose it is needed), he just needs to be confident he has seen it and that it is bona fide. Therefore, I'd arrange to meet and show him the originals, and get him to give you a written receipt/confirmation that he has checked them which you and he can both then keep copies of.0 -
I'm unclear if the OP is worried about personal info getting lost en route (email, post) or misused by the LL or what.
Lucy - it is normal for LL's to want references. And proof of income (in your case HB). What are you worried about?
If you want to get rights to a £X00,000 property, you will have persuade he owner you are trustworthy, financially secure etc.0
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