Privacy Notice for Tenants, Residents and Guarantors – For Your Information

 

Data Controller:

Name of Managing Agent: Feltham Management Ltd

Address of Managing Agent: 20 Aldwych Avenue, Manchester, M14 5NL

Telephone Number: 0161 224 1914

E-mail address: office@felthamgroup.co.uk

Date: August 2018

 

What this Notice is about

This Privacy Notice tells you what information we obtain and hold about you whether you are initially applying to us for a tenancy or if you become a tenant, resident or guarantor, it explains what information we collect, why we collect it, and what we do with it, as well as who we share it with.  We collect and handle personal information about our tenants and residents (including former tenants, residents or guarantors) and prospective tenants and residents along with any guarantors to enable us to provide residential accommodation. This includes dealing with applications for tenancies, checking the suitability of tenants, residents along with any guarantors (including credit, immigration and similar referencing checks), arranging lettings, property management (including dealing with repairs), rent collection, dealing with any complaints, maintaining our accounts and records, tenancy terminations and administering tenancy deposits. We call this information “your information” or “data”.

Where this notice is given to more than one person it is given to each of you separately.

You should read this notice when you give us information, so you are aware of how and why we are using this. Please update us if any information supplied by you changes.

 

Why we are giving you this notice

We are required by data protection law to give you this notice. We must be open with you about why information is collected about you and then what is done with it. We must act fairly in relation to this information. You have various legal rights relating to this information which are spelt out in more detail in this notice.

 

Under data protection legislation we can only process data as necessary and only to the extent that it is needed e.g. we can use your bank details regarding payments and other limited purposes only. However, we can share any of your data, if required, with the police/law enforcement agencies or authorities.

 

The data we collect/hold about you

 

We use different ways to collect data about you including the information you supply to us when applying for a tenancy/residency. If you fail to provide this information we may not be able to proceed.

 

As necessary personal data is processed by us, consisting of the following (where applicable):

• Identity and contact details including car registration

• Personal/background information including occupation/status

• Bank details

• Verification and credit status

• Tenancy details including renewals, joint tenants, other residents and guarantors

• Immigration/right to rent checks (England only)

• Rent and other payments

• Recovery of arrears, claims or possession proceedings

• Repairs/health and safety/housing conditions

• Breach of tenancy terms/nuisance/anti-social behaviour

• Council Tax liability

• Water charges payable

• Utilities and services provided

• Welfare benefits

• Termination of tenancy

• Audio and CCTV recordings (if any)

• Complaints

• Insurance

• Health or disability

• E-mails, texts and other communications and via our website where we operate one

• Website and online portal information

 

We also generate and use data internally e.g. our rent records.

 

We will collect and receive data about you from third parties given by other tenants, residents or neighbours and can include information from a guarantor; information received from you via websites or from rental portals such as Gumtree, Rightmove etc.

 

Sharing Data with Others

We will share information we hold with others, where this is necessary. When we do this, we must comply with data protection legislation. Information can be shared with the following:

 

• other landlords including where you apply to another landlord for a tenancy

• contractors/suppliers

• utilities and service providers

• tradespeople

• financial organisations (including banks and insurance companies)

• debt collection and tracing agents

• public and government bodies (including those who administer benefits, such as the Department for Work and Pensions or the local authority)

• courts, police and law enforcement agencies

• taxation authorities

• local authorities in relation to Council Tax and regulatory functions

• letting and managing agents

• any future owner of the property

• your next of kin for cases where there is an emergency etc.

• Professional advisers such as lawyers and accountants

• Freeholder/managing agent for the block of flats you may reside in

 

What we share will depend on what is necessary in the circumstances

 

Joint Tenants and Guarantors

Where you have a joint tenancy with someone else or there is a guarantor for your tenancy, as necessary, we will share information either with the joint tenant or the guarantor (or both). This relates to your performance of your responsibilities under the tenancy agreement including information about any rent arrears or other breach of the tenancy terms. It can also relate to issues around the termination of the tenancy and any claims we may have as a result.

 

Immigration/Right to Rent Checks

By law, in England, we are required to check your immigration status before we rent a property to you. This means that you are legally obliged to produce certain documentation (e.g. a passport or driving licence) to us. This applies whether you are a UK or EU citizen or not. Not only are we required to see original documentation, but we must take and keep copies of it. We also check this documentation as part of our process to verify at the outset of the tenancy. Prospective tenants and all adult residents who will live at the property must be checked.

 

Keeping Communications

We will monitor, record and retain your calls, e-mails, text messages, social media messages and other communications. This is in our legitimate interests to maintain an accurate record of these. This may be necessary to manage your tenancy or the property or to deal with your application for a tenancy or to deal with tenants/residents or prospective tenants/residents/guarantors. We need these records for our ongoing dealings with you, including our data protection obligations.

 

Length of Storage of Data

Data can only be stored on a time limited basis and not indefinitely. We will hold personal data about you for the duration of your tenancy and for seven years after your tenancy has ended. This is the statutory limitation period six years plus a further year to allow for service of proceedings should proceedings commence later. We are also required to retain information for up to six years for tax purposes. If your tenancy application does not go ahead then we will retain data for one year.

 

All our information is stored securely electronically on servers or devices. Certain information is also retained on a secure basis in hard copy format.

 

Telephone Calls

To protect our legitimate interests telephone conversations may be recorded electronically for monitoring and to ensure that we have a record of what is said. You or others may leave messages when calling.

 

Withdrawal of Consent

Where your consent provides us with the legal gateway to process data about you, you can withdraw this at any time by e-mail or post using the telephone/addresses given above.

 

Complaints

We operate our own internal complaints policy and if you have any concerns about the way in which we collect or handle data please contact us.

 

Additionally, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Supervisory Authority:

 

Information Commissioner

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

www.ico.org.uk