Tenant Screening will use the information that you provide in your application for the sole purpose of conducting a tenancy check to determine your suitability as a tenant. This disclaimer outlines your responsibility on the information that is provided by yourself and how this information is held and obtained is detailed in the table within this document.
By completing this application, you are authorising Tenant Screening to obtain a credit report on behalf of our client, your prospective landlord/letting agent. The credit report is obtained through our credit provider Equifax and we will also look to obtain employment/financial and landlord references where applicable.
The information required for the purpose of the screening will be obtained and provided to your prospective landlord who will have access to this for their records and you are acknowledging that you are aware of this.
Your Responsibilities:
- You confirm that the information provided by yourself is true to the best of your knowledge. If information is found to be incorrect or falsified, this will have an impact on your screening and Tenant Screening reserve the right to terminate your application if seen fit.
- Where information is requested for any adverse history (County Court Judgement/Bankruptcy Order/Voluntary Arrangement) to be declared, it is in your best interest to be honest about this to support the application. If adverse history is returned upon the credit report and you have failed to declare this when given the opportunity to do so, the application will be classed as a fail.
- You must ensure that referees provided on the application form are aware that Tenant Screening will contact them in order for references to be completed. Failure to do so will delay the completion of your screening.
- If references are deemed to be from an unreliable source, you will be contacted to explain the reasoning behind this. Tenant Screening will reserve the right to terminate your application should a reference be deemed to have been from an unreliable source or falsified.
- You must co-operate with Tenant Screening should further information be required for the purpose of completing your screening. Failure to do so will result in the application being delayed or potentially failed should suitable co-operation not be provided.
Data Handling and Storage (This table is set in the order that the data is processed). Each element and the information requested is broken down further below the table for clarity:
| Data Provided | Provided by | Accessibility | Purpose of use | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name and E-mail address of applicant. | Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent | Tenant Screening and Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent | For application form to be sent to applicant for completion | This data is held in the secure Tenant Screening database |
| Applicant personal information | Applicant or Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent with consent of the applicant | Tenant Screening and Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent. Equifax will also have access to the information for the sole purpose of returning a credit report. Finally, this information may be shared with employment referees should further information such as DOB/NI number be required to identify the applicant | To enable Equifax credit report to be completed and for Tenant Screening or prospective Landlord/Letting Agent to contact applicant | This data is held in the secure Tenant Screening database |
| Applicant Address History | Applicant or Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent with consent of the applicant | Tenant Screening and Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent. Equifax will also have access to the information for the sole purpose of returning a credit report. Finally, the landlord referee(s) should they require the property information to identify the applicant | To enable Equifax credit report to be completed | This data is held in the secure Tenant Screening database |
| Employment/Financial Referee | Applicant or Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent with consent of the applicant | Tenant Screening and Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent. | To obtain a reference/document for proof of the applicant’s salary/income source for proof that the affordability can be met | This data is held in the secure Tenant Screening database |
| Current/Previous Landlord referees | Applicant or Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent with consent of the applicant | Tenant Screening and Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent | To obtain landlord reference(s) to confirm applicant’s rental information | This data is held in the secure Tenant Screening database |
| Equifax Credit Report (An interim report to provide a breakdown of the report is e-mail to the prospective Landlord/Letting Agent) | Equifax | Tenant Screening and Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent | To identify the applicant’s residency, identity and credit information | This data is held in the secure Tenant Screening database |
| Employment reference returned by employment referee | Employment/Accountant Referee. Alternatively, documents are supplied by the applicant dependent on income source. | Tenant Screening and Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent. | The information returned is put forward with all information collated to help determine applicant’s suitability | This data is held in the secure Tenant Screening database |
| Landlord reference(s) obtained from landlord referee(s) | Landlord referee(s) | Tenant Screening and Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent | The information returned is put forward with all information collated to help determine applicant’s suitability | This data is held in the secure Tenant Screening database |
| Final Report (Full information on credit report, references returned and recommendation of suitability from Tenant Screening) e-mail to prospective Landlord/Letting agent | Tenant Screening | Tenant Screening and Prospective Landlord/Letting Agent | With all of the information obtained, a final report is created with a recommendation of suitability | This data is held in the secure Tenant Screening database |
Table Breakdown:
Application Form:
In order for the screening to be completed, certain data is required for this to be processed. Each section of the application is broken down as the following:
Personal Information:
Title, Forename, Surname, DOB, Telephone Number(s), E-mail Address, NI Number, Next of Kin (Name, Address and Phone Number) Bank Sort Code and Account Number (This is used only to verify a true account) You will then be asked if you have any debts (CCJ’s, Bankruptcies or Voluntary Arrangements), if you are a smoker, if you have any pets and if you have a criminal record.
Address History:
A minimum of 3 years address history is required for the credit report to be completed.
Employment referee:
You will be asked to provide details of your employer for a reference to be completed. Please note that Tenant Screening will always attempt to contact the HR/Payroll Department of your employer therefore it is preferred that their details are provided. The information we require is, your annual salary, referee name, contact number, e-mail address, company name, start date and company address. If you are not employed, other options such as benefits, pensions and other income are available to select and an e-mail will be sent to you outlining documents that we are able to accept.
Landlord referee:
For the landlord referee, we will require the landlord/letting agents name, phone number, e-mail address and address.
Equifax:
In order for the Equifax report to be completed, Equifax will use your Title, Forename, Surname, DOB, Account details and Address History to be completed.
In the report returned we are supplied the following information from Equifax:
Residency Verification (Such as, are you registered on the electoral roll, how many lenders (financial packages) you have open and any adverse history such as County Court Judgements, Bankruptcy Orders or Voluntary Arrangements)
Identity Verification (Such as DOB match and telephone database match)
Bank Account Verifiction (Confirmation that the sort code and account number are genuine)
Alerts (Forwarding addresses, CIFAS Listing, PEP, HM Treasury Sanction and HALO Deceased)
Suitability Score (A score to determine an applicant’s suitability)
PLEASE NOTE: When a check is completed, it will leave a soft footprint on your credit file to advise that Tenant Screening have requested this information. As this is for residency purposes, this does not impact your credit rating.
Employment Reference Returned:
When Tenant Screening request an employment reference, the referee is requested to provide the following information:
- Their relationship to yourself. (HR Manager, Line Manager etc)
- Your position within the company.
- The start date of employment.
- Your annual salary (as well as any commission/overtime/bonuses that you receive)
- Contract type – Permanent or Temporary
- If there is an end date to the employment
- Your address details to ensure these match with those provided on the application
If you are not employed and have selected any of the other income options, you shall receive an e-mail requesting documentation to be provided to Tenant Screening for proof of income. Please note, all documentation received is uploaded to the application and your prospective landlord/letting agent will have access to view the proof provided.
Landlord Reference Returned:
When Tenant Screening request a landlord reference, the referee is requested to provide the following information:
- Length of tenancy or tenancy start date
- If there have been/were any defaults/late rental payments
- A score for tidiness within the property
- Any disputes with neighbours or utility suppliers
- If there is/was any reason to withhold any deposit
- Whether to the best of their knowledge they believe you to be a smoker
- Whether to the best of their knowledge they believe you to own any pets
Final Report:
For the final report that is sent to your prospective Landlord/Letting Agent is a compilation of the information returned from the Equifax Report and references returned. Based upon this information, Tenant Screening provide a recommendation to the prospective Landlord/Letting Agent in regards to the your suitability for the tenancy.
PLEASE NOTE: We only provide a recommendation and the final decision is made by the prospective Landlord/Letting agent.
Tenant Screening’s responsibilities to yourself:
- The information provided by yourself will be processed by Tenant Screening on behalf of your prospective Landlord/Letting Agent and will be used solely for the purpose of the screening and will not be used for any other means.
- Tenant Screening will ensure that all data gathered for the purpose of completing a screening is stored securely and only the individuals who have the right to access the data are able to view the returned data.
- All individuals who have access to the data held will have their own security measures in place to ensure that there is no misuse of this data.
- The data will be held for a maximum of 6 years or removed from our database upon receipt of written request from yourself. In order for data to be removed, you will be required to contact Tenant Screening who will provide you with a consent letter that you will need to review and sign in order for this to be carried out.
- Upon request in writing, Tenant Screening will provide all information held from the screening completed on yourself.