A Nottingham-based software company is to launch a national tenant background checks sharing service for letting agents operating in the private rental sector.
TenantPro is piloting its background checks service for free in Nottingham but is to roll out the service nationally later, it says. The company claims the software will enable letting agents to share information about tenant behaviour and performance against their contractual obligations, and enable tenants to submit their rental history too.
“Many tenants have no accurate rental history,” the company says.
“Agents often don’t have sufficient information to make informed decisions about the suitability of a tenant, current checks in place are lengthy and time consuming and often involve writing or telephoning previous landlords, and the information available is often incomplete or missing.”
The company says its software will be able to pick up rogue tenants who behave badly and then, by saying they have been living with parents or partners, avoid disclosing past poor behaviour such as abandoned tenancies and damage.
Founded in June last year, the company is headed up by lettings agency owner Andrew Shipman, website building agency owner John Richardson, and mortgage advising company founder Aaron Northridge (pictured).
Data protection
But the company faces a challenge – to allay fears over data protection, as highlighted by readers of local paper The Nottingham Post earlier this month.
Director John Richardson told the paper that the company “takes its obligations under the Data Protection Act very seriously…we have spoken to the ICO [Information Commissioner’s Office] on several occasions, as the business was set up, ensure that we fully understand our obligations”.
He said data protection has been built into its products and processes and will be a key element of its staff training.
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