Data Protection and Landlords?

anthonyc74

Hi,

Are landlords required to register with the Data Protection Commissioner in Ireland?

The reason I am asking is in relation to the sharing of information with third parties such as letting agents or property services.

If they share information about a tenancy period i.e. date of tenancy, duration of tenancy, issues about unpaid rent, damage, anti-social behavior, with a letting agency or property service WITHOUT giving the tenants name, date of birth or ppsn number or identifying the tenant in any way is this covered by the Data Protection Act or is it 'personal data'?

I have been told by a friend who has been looking for new accommodation that he was told by a person working in a letting agents office that this type of information could be shared by landlords with others without breaching the Data Protection Act.

He was told that as the information only relates to the landlords own data/information about their own property, and as a tenant could not be identified using the data alone, it did not qualify as 'personal data' under the data protection act.

The data protection act defines personal data as:

"personal data" means data relating to a living individual who is or can be identified either from the data or from the data in conjunction with other information that is in, or is likely to come into, the possession of the data controller;

Their point was that the person could not be identified only from this type of data supplied by a landlord to a letting agent, where no other data was accessible by the letting agent.

Can this be correct?

VonBeanie

Landlords are not required to register with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. The requirements for registration is set out on their website:

https://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/Who-is-required-to-Register/1089.htm

Personal Data protection law only covers data which can identify a specific living individual. If data cannot be used to identify a unique individual, its not covered by Data Protection law. If I say I have had a history of late payments from tenants in Carlow, that may or may not be personal data. If the person I am telling knows that I have only ever rented to one person in Carlow (Mr. Smith), that's personal data. If the recipient cant identify Mr. Smith from the statement, its not personal data.

When personal data is being collected by a landlord (or anyone else), the purpose for which it is being collected must be disclosed and agreed by the data subject. For example, a PPS number must me collected because it is required to register with the RTB. A tenant cant complain that this personal data is shared by the landlord with the RTB - its what they should expect (or reasonably expect) when they provided the data. Sharing data with the Landlords agent is also not outside the reason the personal data was provided by the tenant (operating a residential lease).

Here's the crunch. An agent can only use personal data received for the purpose it was received. Proving that an agent has used personal data from one letting to access another, could be an uphill battle.

Also, expressing an opinion is not disclosing personal data. Saying I would not recommend Mr. Smith as a tenant is not disclosing any data about Mr. Smith.

anthonyc74

Hello VonBeanie,

Thanks for the reply.

I kind of thought as much... indirectly.

So, as ever, it looks like the landlord and letting agents hold all of the cards.

Regards,

tina1040

anthonyc74 wrote: »

Hello VonBeanie,

Thanks for the reply.

I kind of thought as much... indirectly.

So, as ever, it looks like the landlord and letting agents hold all of the cards.

Regards,

What cards?

DubCount

Data protection legislation is not designed to be a weapon in landlord/tenant relations. There are lots of laws protecting tenants.

As far as I'm concerned, the record of both landlords and tenants should be made public. Landlords who improperly withhold deposits, who illegally evict tenants etc. should be published. Tenants who pay late, dont pay, overhold or damage property should be published. Landlords and tenants who fulfil their duties should also be published. Both tenants and landlords should know who they are dealing with and what their record is like.

Revenue publish a list of tax defaulters. The RTB should publish rogue landlords and tenants. Some items of public interest should be more important than protecting personal data.

Eric Cartman

anthonyc74 wrote: »

Hi,

Are landlords required to register with the Data Protection Commissioner in Ireland?

The reason I am asking is in relation to the sharing of information with third parties such as letting agents or property services.

If they share information about a tenancy period i.e. date of tenancy, duration of tenancy, issues about unpaid rent, damage, anti-social behavior, with a letting agency or property service WITHOUT giving the tenants name, date of birth or ppsn number or identifying the tenant in any way is this covered by the Data Protection Act or is it 'personal data'?

I have been told by a friend who has been looking for new accommodation that he was told by a person working in a letting agents office that this type of information could be shared by landlords with others without breaching the Data Protection Act.

He was told that as the information only relates to the landlords own data/information about their own property, and as a tenant could not be identified using the data alone, it did not qualify as 'personal data' under the data protection act.

The data protection act defines personal data as:

"personal data" means data relating to a living individual who is or can be identified either from the data or from the data in conjunction with other information that is in, or is likely to come into, the possession of the data controller;

Their point was that the person could not be identified only from this type of data supplied by a landlord to a letting agent, where no other data was accessible by the letting agent.

Can this be correct?

there really shout be a facility for the RTB to share this information about tenants, why should a bad tenant be able to hoodwink another landlord and damage a new property.

The_Conductor

DubCount wrote: »

Data protection legislation is not designed to be a weapon in landlord/tenant relations. There are lots of laws protecting tenants.

As far as I'm concerned, the record of both landlords and tenants should be made public. Landlords who improperly withhold deposits, who illegally evict tenants etc. should be published. Tenants who pay late, dont pay, overhold or damage property should be published. Landlords and tenants who fulfil their duties should also be published. Both tenants and landlords should know who they are dealing with and what their record is like.

Revenue publish a list of tax defaulters. The RTB should publish rogue landlords and tenants. Some items of public interest should be more important than protecting personal data.

Agree 100% with this.
If a landlord or a tenant misbehaves in any manner- and there is a finding made against them- it should be publicly available for subsequent tenants or landlords to use reference when deciding whether to do business with one another, or not.

If you'd like a real eye opener- pop into your local public library- and ask the Librarian if she/he could show you the latest editions of Iris Oifigiul.

I'd also suggest going into the archives- and pulling a copy from 30 years ago- and seeing how data was published back then- to give you an idea of how Revenue (and other public bodies) changed down the years.

Many extremely wild things were published down the years. Adjudication rulings from the RTB- pale in comparison to a lot of the information out there.

The_Conductor

Eric Cartman wrote: »

there really shout be a facility for the RTB to share this information about tenants, why should a bad tenant be able to hoodwink another landlord and damage a new property.

I agree- however, its a two way street- prospective tenants also deserve to have the right to check to see whether there were any rulings made against their prospective landlords (deposits unfairly witheld etc etc).

I think the whole shebang should be published.

TheDoc

It's an issue I've had and broached previously when it became "the norm" for landlords to believe they can request payslips or bank statements as proof of earnings.

While it's perfectly fine for a tenant to agree and show the landlord, just show a copy, when landlords request copies for themselves they get into mirky water, as there is really no landlord outside of a property company, that have the infrastructure and knowledge with regards data protection and handling data.

With new EU Data regulations coming in also I believe next year, where most companies have been reviewing their infrastructures, policies and updating and upgrading where required, it's pretty obvious to me landlords have no idea about this new legislation (that superceeds our own national one) or even about our own national legislation. Again highlights the issue where there isn't a core or centralised body assisting landlords, but I won't be surprised to see some relation end badly between a landlord and tenant, and a landlord getting burnt regarding data protection.

And this is really where the data protection discussion holds weight. In terms of third party data transfer between landlord and agent, you as a tenant are agreeing to that. Granted you should be directly consulted, and your signature provided that you agree to this transfer of data, it again depends on what data is being provided. In the grand scheme of things it's no big deal, where it does become an issue if the that trend continues of landlords feeling entitled to request copies of bank statements and or payslips, and other personally identifiable information.

Lux23

If you're requesting materials such as a bank statement or payslip you should be disposing of it carefully, regardless of the law, it shouldn't be left lying on a desk for years to come. I remember going to an Estate Agent a few years ago and I gave him some documentation that they "needed", he didn't even look at it, just popped into a cardboard folder with my name on it and threw it into a cabinet and I am sure it is still there. I am pretty they would have no legal basis to hang on to it.