What am I allowed to do?
We hope your Christmas and new years were full of joy and happiness.
Over the holidays I was watching some youtube videos providing advice on property management in BC. In BC there are three different types of licenes that fall under the BCFSA regulatory authority. One is Trading, which is real estate sales, the second is Strata Management and the third is Rental Property Management.
Each license allows the party to provide different services to the market and each license is not permitted to provide advice or guidance on the other subjects if they are not licensed in that category.
One of the videos I watched was from a Licensed trading Real Estate Agent who indicated they were also an investor in real estate themselves. They provided five factors that they use in managing their rental properties that are good practices to follow. The problem is that some of their suggestions were issues that are not permitted or create risk for the landlords when managing their own properties.
The first item they mentioned was that they ask the applicants or tenants to provide copies of their ID. In BC a landlord has the right to request to “view only” a tenants or applicants ID, landlords are not allowed to make and keep copies. If the applicant supplies it on their own without asking, then that is the applicant’s choice. This information is identified clearly on the RTB website on what documents are able to collect under privacy laws.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies/starting-a-tenancy/list-and-show-a-rental-unit
The next item they recommended was when doing reference checks one option is to use a third party to perform a credit check. Under OIPC ( The Office of Information and Privacy Commissioner) it suggests that a landlord must understand how and what personal information they are collecting and how they are using it. When you have an application form and it says “you” will perform a credit check on an applicant. If you then use a third party to perform the credit check and you have not informed the applicant that the third party would be the one doing the check you may be violtating a person’s privacy with regards to their personal information, by providing the third party with the applicant’s personal details without their permission.
The third item this person mentioned was they perform a criminal records check on the applicants. The OIPC specifies that criminal records checks are only to be performed where a reasonable person would expect them to be used. The example they give is if the building the rental unit is in has a daycare in it then it would be reasonable to perform a criminal records check to ensure the person doesn’t have any record regarding children. When searching for a tenant a landlord has the right to search information that provides them information to prove they are suitable for the tenant which means can they pay the rent and will they take care of the property. What in the criminal records are you going to find that will cause you to determine the person should not be renting your property. A Landlord should be able to determine if the person is a criminal without performing a criminal records check. I have heard people saying they are looking for things like they are being sued, or have an order for a divorce in court. These are details you can ask for in questioning the applicant for their financial position which is allowed. If the applicant indicates they are divorced then the questioning can lead to are you paying or receiving spousal or child support and you can ask for details on this as it determines the applicant’s ability to pay the rent.
If you are unsure on what is involved in managing a rental property in BC we recommend you sue a licensed property manager.
Need help managing your investment properties. Cartref Properties can assist you, call today to discuss your needs. You can find more information about us at: www.cartrefproperties.com
