Cities like Vancouver and Victoria aren91裸聊视频檛 the only ones suffering from snoopy landlords.
A month ago, my boyfriend and I got a taste of Kelowna91裸聊视频檚 low vacancy rate as we searched for an apartment, competing, according to ad views, against hundreds of other potential renters.
The biggest shock wasn91裸聊视频檛 the competition however, it was the feeling of being exposed.
A landlord who owned an apartment in the Lower Mission requested to see our social insurance numbers and annual salary.
Coming from smaller communities where the stakes weren91裸聊视频檛 so high, we left more than a few blanks in our application as we refused to fill out optional requests for SIN numbers and 91裸聊视频渞equired91裸聊视频� questions of income.
A few weeks later, our application was deemed 91裸聊视频渋ncomplete.91裸聊视频�
According to Andrew Sakamoto, executive director for the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre, landlords shouldn91裸聊视频檛 be asking for SIN numbers, banking information, credit cards, criminal records, or taking copies of driver91裸聊视频檚 licenses.
91裸聊视频淎 landlord is allowed to feel confident that a tenant will be able to pay their rent. They91裸聊视频檙e allowed to ask permission to run a credit report,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淭he fact that landlords are asking for all of this personal information and tenants are providing it, is sort of a symptom of this rental housing crisis that91裸聊视频檚 plaguing our society.91裸聊视频�
Sakamoto also has a first-hand experience of dealing with the issue. He said he provided his SIN number to to a landlord in order to secure the tenancy.
91裸聊视频淚 know a lot of other tenants in the same boat,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淲ith vacancy rates so low and competition so high, there91裸聊视频檚 a lot of desperation for housing.91裸聊视频�
According to acting deputy commissioner Bradley Weldon at the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, landlords can only request 91裸聊视频渘ecessary91裸聊视频� information from a tenant.
91裸聊视频淭here is no reason for a landlord to request more information with a reputable reference,91裸聊视频� said Weldon. More information should only be requested if a reference isn91裸聊视频檛 available and should be only required to determine if the individual is capable of paying the rent, he said.
91裸聊视频淭he amount of information you collect, should escalate as you have reason to escalate it. But what we91裸聊视频檙e seeing instead is one size fits all application forms that treat an individual who has a 10-year positive reference from a landlord91裸聊视频he same as someone who has no background whatsoever and there91裸聊视频檚 reason to believe they might not be able to make their rent payments,91裸聊视频� he said.
The privacy commissioner is currently investigating both private and commercial landlords which was announced after the large number of inquiries it received about tenant privacy rights. The investigation should wrap up in about three to four months, said Weldon.
To access information on tenant and landlord rights visit www.oipc.bc.ca.
carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com
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