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Legal grounds for referencing me

Hi everyone, hope you're enjoying your time!

I want to rent a room. It's in a landlord's house who works with an agency. Agency works with a referencing company called ClearView (https://references.clearviewtr.co.uk/)
https://references.clearviewtr.co.uk/astbrand/
which apparently belongs to http://www.peoplechecking.com/our_solutions.
The data they want me to fill in on their website is Personal Details, Current Address, Previous Address, Financial Details, Employer Details, Bank Details. I've been arguing that because I have paid my rent in front, I can't see the point of some 3-rd party business referencing me. I have no idea what they are going to do with my data and I don't trust them. At the end of the form you have to give the following consent:

I consent to Clearview Tenant Referencing Limited searching information held by credit reference agency and agree that Clearview Tenant Referencing Limited and the credit-referencing bureau will keep a record of that search and the results from that search. 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. 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.

This means they will store all the info they can find on me for life. I obviously don't want it. My previous landlord wasn't a very nice guy and he will definitely give me bad reference, and I don't want that to stick to my name for the rest of my life.

I told my landlord I don't want to do it, but he says he needs the reference in order to comply with the law, to ensure that no one who isn't supposed to is living at his property. I said they don't ask for police reference, they ask for bank details. He said it was to prevent money laundering which is obviously made up.

Landlord is insisting that I have to do it and in 15 years of his practice I'm the first person who's concerned about his data. Well I am. And it's not just me, my friend living with me as well. But it's 'you either do it or find another house' principle. I don't think we have to provide our details ourselves to any referencing company and give them any consent to basically do whatever they want with this data. Too easy for them.

I don't mind giving my previous address to the landlord and a reference from a bank that I'm not laundering any money, but I don't want to have any business with Clearview.

Any legal advice, please?
He's got his legislation mixed up, money laundering checks are done by letting agents to ensure the person letting the property is actually the legal owner and are who they say they are.

Tenant referencing is not for money laundering purposes but to arm the landlord with as much information as possible when deciding who to let live in what is a substantial investment and risk. There was proposed legislation to make the landlord responsible for ensuring they aren't ;etting to illegal immigrants but it didn't go through. Tenant referencing is a perfectly normal part of private lettings, as is using an external company to carry these out, pretty much all landlords do this now, even when tenants are paying the whole rent in advance.

You have options, either complete the referencing as he's sensibly requested or find somewhere else to live. At the end of the day he doesn't have to accept you as a tenant and he's just trying to protect himself as much as possible from damage and loss.
Reply 2
Avatar for zavr
zavr
OP
Really, so what kind of info I can't provide that some 3rd pary business will find about me? I don't think it is legal to force me do share my details with this business. I do not want to do it and they leave me no choice. I can collect all the needed references myself and give it him. My question was that is it required by law that the landlord collects references before I move it, or is it just his whimsy.
I don't know what he needs to protect himself against.
It's on his whimsy. I've never been referenced for a student property before.

He wants to protect himself from tenants with a history of not paying the rent and trashing the house.

Posted from TSR Mobile
He's not forcing you to do anything. You want to live in his property, he has laid out the conditions of that by telling you he requires you to be referenced by the third party. Either you agree, have the references done and move in, don't do it and find somewhere else to live.

It is perfectly legal to stipulate the conditions of him accepting you as a tenant by asking for third party referencing. By using a company it takes the legwork and guesswork out of it for him as he doesn't have to follow up on references and information you supply to ensure they are genuine (it would be quite easy to falsify paper documents).

This company can't do anything with your information unless you let them, there will be tick boxes asking as much.
Reply 5
Avatar for smp1
smp1
Clearview have been messing us about for weeks now. They took £580 of us and we are after 2weeks still not able to move in, even though the landlord said yes and our references were completely fine. They seem to be coming up with new excuses every time we talk to them like telling us one of our ID s came out the printer too datk (after 2weeks of receiving the picture) I would suggest you try find a private landlord

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