Landlords going too far in quest for tenants’ data, watchdog says
Are you planning to get pregnant in the next 12 months?
How’s your English? What’s your immigration status?
We’re going to need you to fill out a questionnaire about your behaviour.
We want to see your child’s report card.
We want to see three months of detailed bank statements.
These are among requests from landlords that potential tenants have faced in B.C., according to a report released Thursday by B.C.’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
They are examples of ways some landlords overstep provincial legislation rules about privacy and collection of personal information, the report said.
It is the norm for some landlords to insist on private information that they shouldn’t be seeking, acting commissioner Drew McArthur said.
Today’s tight rental market has created an imbalance of power, leading potential tenants to believe they have no choice but to comply so that they don’t miss out on a place to live, he said.
“I found a systemic practice of landlords asking tenants to provide an unreasonable amount of personal information during the application process.”
Calls come into the privacy office daily from people worried about collection of their private information, McArthur said.
Many landlord requests are banned under provincial legislation, such as the Personal Information Protection Act and the Human Rights Code.
David Hutniak, chief executive officer of Landlord B.C. representing 3,300 landlords, disagreed with McArthur’s view that there is a systemic practice of landlords asking for too much information. Landlords should be permitted to request a “soft credit report” tailored to their needs, Hutniak said.
He is concerned about the report’s statement that landlords must not collect information from social media or from internet searches. “This is 2018,” he said. “There needs to be a fuller conversation on this.”
B.C. law allows landlords to seek references, pay stubs, confirmation of employment income through a letter from or a call to an employer, and age if a property is restricted to people over age 55.
“A landlord is only authorized to request consent for a credit check where a tenant is not able to provide satisfactory references, or employment and income verification,” the report says. “While it is reasonable to collect a prospective tenant’s credit history in these circumstances, it will not be necessary for most tenants, and a landlord cannot require every applicant to consent to a credit check.”
The report recommends that it become mandatory for landlords to state specific purposes for collecting personal information.
About 1.5 million people in B.C. live in rental housing. There are more than 500,000 rental households, representing about one-third of all households, in the province.
Information for the report was gathered from eight for-profit and five non-profit landlords and rental management companies in B.C. Those landlords and managers represent about 200,000 rental units, each operating more than one property. The total units managed by non-profits was 5,982. The privacy office said six of the 13 manage properties or represent landlords who manage properties in the capital region, where the vacancy rate is 0.7 per cent.
McArthur examined tenancy application forms, asked landlords how they collect, use and retain information, and how they comply with legislation.
Douglas King, executive director of the Together Against Poverty Society, called the report “refreshing” for highlighting limitations on information that landlords can ask for. “There’s still some questions about enforceability in the current market that we have.” Tenants are not in a position to fight back, he said.
“We need a different housing market. We need to be addressing the incredible shortages that exist that allow this power dynamic to take place,” King said.
“The greatest cure for some of these privacy breaches is to shift the balance of power back to where it should be, where it is more of an equal playing field.”