4 ms·

It violates privacy laws so it's illegal. And like the article also says, credit rating agencies need to be registered through the government and consumers nee

It violates privacy laws so it's illegal. And like the article also says, credit rating agencies need to be registered through the government and consumers need to give their consent for a credit check.

bob1029 7y ago
I am not so sure. Do you have to give consent for a bank to submit a charge-off report to the various credit bureaus in case of negative balance or other delinquency? This sounds like the initial data collection which is a massive grey area IMO. The use of that data to make an approve/decline decision is where the regulations start to take effect.
- Mikeb85 7y ago
  > I am not so sure. Do you have to give consent for a bank to submit a charge-off report to the various credit bureaus in case of negative balance or other delinquency? No, but you need to give permission for anyone to run a credit check on you. Literally no one can legally see that info without you giving them permission to do so. Whereas anyone can sign up for this service and see info about you. Edit - also, banks won't give you a bad score as long as you keep paying the minimum on all your credit products. And in my experience, their willingness to give you a mortgage or extend credit has more to do with your income and assets than a credit score.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - bdowling 7y ago
    > No, but you need to give permission for anyone to run a credit check on you. Whether that is true will depend on your jurisdiction. In the U.S. at least, it is not true. In the U.S., a consumer report needs to be for a permissible purpose, but it does not always require explicit permission of the consumer. See 15 U.S. Code § 1681b, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1681b https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1681b.
- unloco 7y ago
  When you buy a car, you have to give them permission to check with the credit agencies. If you miss a loan payment, the bank can then report to the agencies they used to vet you. There is a level of transparency. It's not perfect but it;s something. This Company is obfuscating every layer, the tenants don't even know it's going on. The biggest issue here with the obfuscation is, Who is keeping the landlords honest? There are already associations in the US that legally track tenant and landlord issues. This company is just bypassing all the regulations involved in that and pretending it's ok.
kazinator 7y ago
If so, then asking for references from a previous landlord must also be illegal. It's the same private information: where you lived and whether you paid rent on time.
- Mikeb85 7y ago
  The difference is that it's you that gives them your reference and you can opt out if you want. Just like you give consent for a credit check.
  - kazinator 7y ago
    Yeah, but "opt out" means buggering off to go look elsewhere, where references aren't required. Whoever ends up moving into that place must have given the reference. So it's not optional, right? It's the same "opt out" as opting out of paying $30K for that SUV at the car dealership. Oh, and not driving out with it either; that's done by the next buyer who coughs up $30K. If it legal to ask for a reference, it means that, in the eyes of the law, the situation would be acceptable if every landlord in the country required one. In such a case it would still optional in the sense that one can emigrate, or go sleep on some friend's or family member's sofa. The point is that people who don't want to give the reference will do so anyway because the circumstances force them to.
jlokier 7y ago
> consumers need to give their consent for a credit check How is that relevant? Consumers don't have a choice in the matter; consent is mandatory because a place to live is a fundamental need. Nobody gives consent for the data to be collected. Then when you need a place to live, you have no choice but to agree to a background check using that data because virtually all landlords require it.
- Mikeb85 7y ago
  Where I live (Calgary, AB) I've literally never had a landlord ask for a reference. Been renting for nearly 20 years. Simply cutting a cheque is always enough around here. My current landlord never even bothered to check if my roomate/SO actually existed when we signed the lease (she wasn't available to view the apartment, literally the only time I met my landlord). Landlords need tenants more than tenants need landlords. At the end of the day, you can always find somewhere to live even if it's shared tenancy or crashing with friends or family, an empty apartment just costs the landlord money.

bob1029 7y ago

I am not so sure. Do you have to give consent for a bank to submit a charge-off report to the various credit bureaus in case of negative balance or other delinquency? This sounds like the initial data collection which is a massive grey area IMO. The use of that data to make an approve/decline decision is where the regulations start to take effect.

Mikeb85 7y ago
> I am not so sure. Do you have to give consent for a bank to submit a charge-off report to the various credit bureaus in case of negative balance or other delinquency? No, but you need to give permission for anyone to run a credit check on you. Literally no one can legally see that info without you giving them permission to do so. Whereas anyone can sign up for this service and see info about you. Edit - also, banks won't give you a bad score as long as you keep paying the minimum on all your credit products. And in my experience, their willingness to give you a mortgage or extend credit has more to do with your income and assets than a credit score.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- bdowling 7y ago
  > No, but you need to give permission for anyone to run a credit check on you. Whether that is true will depend on your jurisdiction. In the U.S. at least, it is not true. In the U.S., a consumer report needs to be for a permissible purpose, but it does not always require explicit permission of the consumer. See 15 U.S. Code § 1681b, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1681b https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1681b.
unloco 7y ago
When you buy a car, you have to give them permission to check with the credit agencies. If you miss a loan payment, the bank can then report to the agencies they used to vet you. There is a level of transparency. It's not perfect but it;s something. This Company is obfuscating every layer, the tenants don't even know it's going on. The biggest issue here with the obfuscation is, Who is keeping the landlords honest? There are already associations in the US that legally track tenant and landlord issues. This company is just bypassing all the regulations involved in that and pretending it's ok.

kazinator 7y ago

If so, then asking for references from a previous landlord must also be illegal. It's the same private information: where you lived and whether you paid rent on time.

Mikeb85 7y ago
The difference is that it's you that gives them your reference and you can opt out if you want. Just like you give consent for a credit check.
- kazinator 7y ago
  Yeah, but "opt out" means buggering off to go look elsewhere, where references aren't required. Whoever ends up moving into that place must have given the reference. So it's not optional, right? It's the same "opt out" as opting out of paying $30K for that SUV at the car dealership. Oh, and not driving out with it either; that's done by the next buyer who coughs up $30K. If it legal to ask for a reference, it means that, in the eyes of the law, the situation would be acceptable if every landlord in the country required one. In such a case it would still optional in the sense that one can emigrate, or go sleep on some friend's or family member's sofa. The point is that people who don't want to give the reference will do so anyway because the circumstances force them to.

jlokier 7y ago

> consumers need to give their consent for a credit check How is that relevant? Consumers don't have a choice in the matter; consent is mandatory because a place to live is a fundamental need. Nobody gives consent for the data to be collected. Then when you need a place to live, you have no choice but to agree to a background check using that data because virtually all landlords require it.

Mikeb85 7y ago
Where I live (Calgary, AB) I've literally never had a landlord ask for a reference. Been renting for nearly 20 years. Simply cutting a cheque is always enough around here. My current landlord never even bothered to check if my roomate/SO actually existed when we signed the lease (she wasn't available to view the apartment, literally the only time I met my landlord). Landlords need tenants more than tenants need landlords. At the end of the day, you can always find somewhere to live even if it's shared tenancy or crashing with friends or family, an empty apartment just costs the landlord money.