My rental agent keeps giving my details out to random companies to do work on the rental property I am staying in.
They then contact me in the name of the agency, to which I have to assume it's true or not.
Is this a breach of the privacy act?
Rental Agent and Information Sharing
Headless on 14/09/2023 - 15:53
Last edited 14/09/2023 - 16:14 by 1 other user
Last edited 14/09/2023 - 16:14 by 1 other user
Comments
Hard to read anything without a head :P
Depends which head is missing from OP ;)
No, it'll be in your rental agreement/contract that they're allowed to
This is a pretty dumb take, just because something is in a contract doesn't mean it's legal.
Doesn't mean it's illegal either
That's why OP is asking.
Is this a breach of the privacy act?
@deme: Feel free to answer that question then, rather than bagging mine 😉
Thanks for the neg!
Side note, given 99%+ of rental agreements have that contact clause on them, and everyone (including OP) would sign those pages, it's highly likely it passes the 'legal' test.
Feel free to prove your own point tho!
What information?
Anything other than your name, phone number and address?
Favourite sex position
.
On your rental application to improve your chances, I'm sure
Assuming you're interested in getting stuff fixed at the place you're paying money to live in, yes it is a lot easier to deal directly with the tradies to set up your appointment times than to go through the agent, who reads your replies whenever, then waits for tradie to reply, then sends you their reply, and so on.
If they were giving out your DOB, financial details and favourite colour, maybe. Name, address and phone number, no.
What does your rental agreement say?
It's non verbal
.Oh, OP is from Broadmeadows…
thanks will have a look 👍
OP is not giving all the info as the work will only be done if OP has complained about something that needs fixing. OP has left this vital info out of the post.
Work can be done if repairs have been identified as necessary, like during an inspection. Depends on what "do work" means. Stuff like testing the smoke alarms, cleaning aircon, checking gas heating, etc is a requirement.
It's rare for a landlord to be proactive on repairs, but sometimes they do so to prevent more damage, they're allowed to do that to keep the place liveable.
So you know that OP had an inspection and was informed about the issues found?
You said "work will only be done if OP has complained about something that needs fixing". I gave examples of when that isn't the case.
Not necessarily. I had ceiling fans installed at my rental to supplement the aircon, try and make things a bit cheaper for my tenants. And then had to get the ceiling patched when the fan installer put the fans in a different spot to the lights that they replaced. Tenant didn't request fans nor did they requst repairs to the ceiling, I only found out about the holes at the next property inspection.
It's fairly normal, rather than playing chinese whispers between 3 parties. Do you want things fixed or not?
Some bloke called Bazza doesn't care about your details, but he needs them so he knows when he can come and hit things with his wrenchhammer - or whatever it is tradies do.
Thing is I don't.
2 insurance companies came round on different occasions to inspect "damages" from previous tenants (stain on carpet, 9v batteries missing from 3 smoke alarms, crack in bathroom sink).
Sparky came round to replace the 9v batteries and AA batteries in the air con remote (I wish I was joking) - Said if someone wants to pay my rates to replace simple batteries to who am I to argueNow I get a random company wanting to "inspect" the smoke alarms "for my safety" despite a highly qualified electrician coming 4 weeks previous
I asked the owner for a remote Fob for the garage door - replied will only pay 25% - to me it's either a yes or no, not a token offer…
I asked for a key to the letterbox as I can't get my mail - owned declined so I bought my own
I asked for the external door to be lockable, as the lock doesn't work - no reply on this either despite multiple attemptsI presume the owner doesn't want to pay the insurance excesses as I've never heard from them again
Who knows who will want to come next, the plumber to check the water is not too hot in the shower!?
To be honest, if the owner new the real estate agent was burning their money on stupid things, they'd be furious, no wonder why they are so tight
No, it'll be in your rental agreement/contract that they're allowed to
Have you read it lately?