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Third-party rental application platforms have been labelled a “monster” that forces renters to disclose private information.
In their latest annual Shonky Awards, consumer advocacy group CHOICE set its sights on the rental industry.
The awards, which aim to “name and shame the products and services that have added distress, disappointment and difficulty to our lives”, claimed that RentTech apps put already-vulnerable home seekers at risk.
Platforms like Ignite, 2Apply and Snug harvest personal data from tenancy applicants in order to link them up with a home, but users are claiming the apps grossly overstep appropriate bounds.
One RentTech user reported that these apps asked for his last five jobs, references from those jobs, and his last three addresses. “It was really invasive stuff,” the user said.
Another renter shared that RentTech platforms asked for her children’s names and photographs, photographs of all family pets, bank statements with balances for every account, and a letter from her employer stating how long she had been working there – all before being shortlisted for a single home.
“Some of these things I’d be happy to hand over if I was shortlisted or as a final step before being approved for a rental, but as part of the basic application it’s a gross overstep,” she said.
In an April 2023 CHOICE report, 41 per cent of respondents stated they were pressured by their agent or landlord to use a RentTech platform.
The report also revealed that 59 per cent of landlords who used RentTech stated that it was required or recommended by their agent.
“Finding a home as a renter is already an incredibly difficult, draining experience,” said consumer data advocate Kate Bower.
“Our research found third-party rental platforms are taking advantage of people’s basic need for a roof over their heads to collect excessive data and profit.”
With data breaches and data mining on the rise, many consumers reported they felt frustrated at the lack of transparency about who gets access to their personal information.
Samantha Floreani from Digital Rights Watch stressed that “the sheer volume and type of personal information that renters are being compelled to provide creates unreasonable privacy and digital security risks”.
CHOICE CEO Alan Kirkland concurred with this view, underscoring that the companies have a responsibility to consider the impact of the housing crisis on customers.
“Rather than doing the right thing by consumers, our Shonky winners have only disappointed during this difficult time,” Mr Kirkland concluded.
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