Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin TD has criticised estate agent Howley Souhan for requesting an outrageous amount of personal information from prospective tenants. 

The personal information requested included employer details, PPS number and bank details, including IBAN.

Teachta Ó Broin said:

“It came to my attention yesterday afternoon that an estate agent operating in the Dublin and Kildare area was advertising homes to rent on Daft.ie, which required an outrageous amount of personal information from prospective tenants before they even viewed the property.

“The form requesting the information has since been removed from the estate agent’s website.

“Renters are under enormous pressure and intrusive information requests of this nature place another burden on tenants.

“I have raised this issue with the Residential Tenancies Board and the Data Protection Commissioner to ask them if information requests of this nature are legal.

“I have also written to the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Housing to make them aware and to ask them if they believe the approach adopted by the estate agent is consistent with the Residential Tenancies Act and the Property Services Regulatory Authority.

“I cannot see any reason why an estate agent would require such personal details of this nature from people who are looking to view a rental property.

“This practice should be stamped out. There is no place for this type of behaviour, and it places particularly vulnerable tenants in an uncomfortable position.”