Help
Tenant screening involves accessing
personal credit reference agency files, and
these prompt many queries and questions. We have therefore complied
a list of some of the most common tenant and credit related questions.
Who holds the data in tenant screening reports?
The information is held by companies called credit reference agencies. they hold files
on nearly all UK consumers.
Who has access to tenant
screening data
?
The files can be searched by any landlord or letting agency that has
the appropriate Licenses and complies with legal rules and requirements for access to personal credit data.
The credit files themselves can also be searched by the individual themselves provided they do so through the proper
channels.
Is there a tenant or 'credit blacklist'?
None of the credit agencies have blacklists. The agencies only record and hold records which
are provided to them by store cards, credit card companies, financial institutions, lenders, and some utility
companies. These records show how promptly people settle their accounts and whether they
miss payments or get into arrears.
What
is on a tenant screening report?
A report can confirm the name and
which address the tenant was last recorded on the Voters
Roll, and any other places they are known to have lived.
The Voters Roll is used to confirm this as well as
information provided by companies that have recorded the
tenant's name and address on their records, for example
utility companies. The companies that share data in this
way do so in order to reduce fraud and identify
persistent bad defaulters. The payment records with
various companies and any history of poor payments or
defaults may be recorded.
How up-to-date is the data on a report?
The agencies that hold data are
updating their records all the time. Most will load new
data on to their database every 24 hours. Data comes
from all the companies and organisations with which they
have data sharing agreements. If information is out of
date this can be because the original source of the data
has not updated their records.
Who decides if the tenant is accpeted?
The reports and tenant screening do
not include any recommendations and will not make the
decision. Landlords and letting agencies can review the
information available, along with information and
references from their own sources, and make the decision
accordlingly. Ultimately the landlord can decide whether
he wants to rent the property or not and to which
tenant.
Do landlords take up
references ?
When tenant screening it is a good
idea for landlords to ask for references from previous
landlords. This can then be corss referenced with
information in a tenant screening report to see if the
addresses and dates of tenancy appear to match with the
previous addresses recorded in the
report.
Do landlords take up employer references?
Before
deciding to let a property a letting agency may obtain
information from the tenants employers, to verify that
they are in employment, and the nature of the employment
contract, and income
details.
|
