HELP!! What can letting agency see on credit check??? Any one in rental market know?

theartfullodger

Fairyfrog4 wrote: »

Hey thanks for your help - they're going to be using an outsourced company - TLC (tenant letting check) do you have any experience of what they can see?

Well, they were easy to find with Google - I guess you had difficultly....

The form you will fill in is here...
https://www.tenant-letting-check.com/forms.html

LOADS of personal info & you tick & sign this...

Part E To be completed by the applicant

Applicant’s Consent
(* denotes mandatory fields)

The information, which I have given in my Application Form, is true to the best of my knowledge. I consent to this information being verified by fair and lawful means, which I understand will involve contacting referees and licensed credit reference agencies. I understand the resulting verified information will be forwarded to the letting agency and / or to the landlord.

I consent to Tenant Letting Check searching information held by credit reference agencies and agree that Tenant Letting Check and the credit referencing bureau will keep a record of that search and the results from that search. I consent to Tenant Letting Check disclosing details to its carefully selected referencing partners for the purpose of assisting with the referencing and for those referencing partners to keep a record of the referencing search result. Our present referencing partners are HomeLet, Keysafe and Letrisks but may include others from time to time. The results of that search may show how I conduct my payments including rental payments and this may also be disclosed to the agency and may affect future credit applications from me and/or from members of my household and from time to time such information may be used for debt tracing and fraud prevention.

The law requires that we also verify the identity of all applicants under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and Money Laundering Regulations 2007. Your co-operation and assistance with this is appreciated. We will seek to verify your identity and proof of
residency via electronic verification using the CallML online identity check system (part of Call Credit). However, you may still be required to provide proof of photo ID and proof of residency to your letting agency and / or landlord.

The footprint left by carrying out a CallML search is “Prevention of Money Laundering”. This will be visible on your credit file along with a footprint of the credit search. These footprints will have no effect on your credit score or credit-worthiness.

I hereby expressly consent to my personal details, including all recorded details in this application form, and any forwarding address(es) at the determination of any tenancy, being passed to the landlord and / or to the utility companies and / or to the local authority.

Home Telecom is the preferred supplier of the telephone line and broadband to the property and they will be contacting you directly to ascertain your requirements. If you do not want to be contacted by Home Telecom please call the sales team on
01403 216131 and quote your email address and / or mobile number.

Otherwise all information will be treated as confidential.

You should signify your consent to the text above by ticking the box next to it.


I agree that information supplied by me will be held in accordance with the Company’s notification under the Data Protection Act 1998. That you may record sensitive data as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998 and I understand that I have the right to ask for a copy of the information held about me subject to the payment of an administration fee that will be notified to me upon application, though it will not exceed the amount set by statute. I have the right to request that the information on me be amended if it is found to be incorrect. I also consent to passing the results of any such search or assessment to my prospective landlord(s) for the purpose of assessing this application.

Please sign and date the form.

Blimey: I'd not sign such a form: Cheeky, nosy, b*gg*rs.

I very, very much doubt that

The law requires that we also verify the identity of all applicants under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and Money Laundering Regulations 2007.

is true: For all lettings, POCA? Nah... (£5 to a housing charity if I'm wrong...)

The company number quoted on their website is that of Sequence (UK) Ltd so that's about as outsourced as a banana is from the bunch of bananas it's still in...

Flogging Telecom & Broadband also, there'll be a backhander bung in there for that: Oh look, the two companies share a Director, Livesey.. Gosh, co-incidence eh?
Cheers!

Artful, Landlord

sheff6107

They're only interested in CCJs and bankruptcies.

Honestly, you could give them your Noddle username and password for them to do it for free themselves, but it's a con.

Landlord is 'reassured' and the lettings agent get a big wad of cash (£386 in your case).

The fee should be capped by law at £20 or something.

Guest101

Fairyfrog4 wrote: »

Hey thanks for your help - they're going to be using an outsourced company - TLC (tenant letting check) do you have any experience of what they can see?

As above - it's ALL as above.

theartfullodger

sheff6107 wrote: »

.....The fee should be capped by law at £20 or something.

Letting fees should be illegal, as in Scotland they have been since 1984 (arguably earlier...) and landlord should pay.
http://www.reclaimyourfees.com/#unlawful

If you’ve been charged any of these by your letting agency in the last five years, use our FREE toolkit and claim back what you’re owed.

Credit checks - fees for carrying out credit checks
Reference checks - fees for carrying out reference checks
Inventory fees - charges for checking and preparing an inventory
Renewal fees – any administration charge to renew an existing tenancy
Holding fees - any non refundable 'holding fees' or similar payment as an inducement to grant a tenancy
Copies of the lease - charges for arranging duplicate copies of the lease
Transfer fees - a payment to formally transfer a tenancy to someone else (known as ‘assignment’)
Overpriced furniture - sale of furniture to a tenant for an excessive price

Artful: Landlord (In Scotland & England..)

Tyler119

wow 400 is a big number. Last I checked Experian offers Landlords a comprehensive report for just thirty pounds and a basic one for fifteen pounds.

It amazes me that this country won't regulate the domestic rental market, especially as the amount of customers in the rental market is expanding year on year.

Fairyfrog4

Thanks for the info guys. Just interesting as to how this is all regulated - as surely you can't just have the average Joe looking at someone's credit report. So worried we will fail and not get it. I spoke to the lady at the letting agency on the phone earlier and she said that everything should be fine because of our income. I wish I knew what basis they make this decision on. Also, they have removed our property from their website?


If anyone can look at another's credit report what's to stop me doing it? So frustrating. A few defaults does not mean that you're a bad person or won't pay your rent as rent is a priority.


Anyone had a similar experience? It's weird that half of the people online are saying they only check for and care about CCJs/Bankruptcies (which we don't have) and the other half are saying they can check what they want?!

Guest101

Fairyfrog4 wrote: »

Thanks for the info guys. Just interesting as to how this is all regulated (By the FCA) - as surely you can't just have the average Joe looking at someone's credit report - No you cant, how on earth did you reach that conclusion?. So worried we will fail and not get it. - Do you have any CCJs, IVAs etc, do you earn 30x the monthly rent? I spoke to the lady at the letting agency on the phone earlier and she said that everything should be fine because of our income. I wish I knew what basis they make this decision on - Before handing over £400, do you not think this is worth asking?. Also, they have removed our property from their website? - I'd take that as a positive sign.


If anyone can look at another's credit report what's to stop me doing it? - You cant, they cant, unless you sign a disclaimer giving access. So frustrating. A few defaults does not mean that you're a bad person - No-one says it does. This is a business decision, it's not a personal judgement. Not that they will see your defaults anyway. or won't pay your rent as rent is a priority. - Nor doe sit mean they know you at all from adam/eve.


Anyone had a similar experience? It's weird that half of the people online are saying they only check for and care about CCJs/Bankruptcies (which we don't have) and the other half are saying they can check what they want?!

Who has said they can check what they want?


I'll make this as clear as possible:


They can only check what you agree to / what is publically available (to everyone). - that's it, no ifs, not buts and certainly no coconuts!

Fairyfrog4

I know. But I mean if they say on the application form: 'do you consent to a credit check' - which we HAVE to tick otherwise we cannot go any further. Can they then look at any part of your credit report?!

Guest101

Fairyfrog4 wrote: »

I know. But I mean if they say on the application form: 'do you consent to a credit check' - which we HAVE to tick otherwise we cannot go any further. Can they then look at any part of your credit report?!

There is no universally accepted definition of a 'credit check'.


A credit check can be - checking your income, checking your address, checking for CCJs, checking your medical history... etc.


So if that's all it says and doesn't mention specifics, they aren't going to do more than a very basic check. You'll be fine.

UK0106

I have experience in this area and can confirm that for a tenancy check (it's only a credit check if you're applying for credit and should not be recorded on your file as a credit check), no information about your accounts will be provided.

Credit reference agencies have reciprocal agreements in place with the organisations they permit to use their referencing services. This means that if an organisation does not supply account data to a CR, they cannot access account data provided by other organisations.

For example, a company supplying credit card data to a CRA will be provided with data relating to the performance of other credit cards you hold (without company names) when they carry out a credit search. They would not be provided with performance data relating to any mortgages you hold though.

The data that is likely to be provided on a tenancy search is:

• Electoral Roll
• CCJs
• Bankruptcies/Insolvencies (Sequestration/Trust Deed in Scotland)
• Linked addresses - this is any addresses linked to any of the addresses you provide on your application. They will not be able to see any data held under those addresses without including them in the original search
• Linked names - this is any names you may have previously been known by. They will be able to see data held in those names even if you didn't provide them on your application
• Financial Associations - this is anybody you currently (or even previously) have a financial connection with (joint bank account, mortgage, fuel bill, etc.). They will not be able to see any information about that person's credit file.
• Other searches that have been performed for the same reason within the past 12-24 months (depending on the CRA being used).

As far an financial account data, if they are provided with anything, the most it will be is a summary of how many accounts you hold and the types. E.g.

Number of accounts: 3
Credit card: 1
Loan: 2

I cannot comment on other data that they may have access to via other referencing methods though.

Hope this helps.