Privacy Policy

Introduction

R-Lettings Limited manages and lets property on behalf of private landlords. When processing your personal data we are defined as the ‘controller’ under the data protection laws.

Our Registered address is - R-Lettings Limited, 4 Croft Court, Whitehills Business Park, Blackpool, FY4 5PR. We are registered as a Data Controller with the Information Commissioners Office and our reference number is ZA555712. 

This Policy explains:

• why we process personal data;
• what personal data we collect and process;
• when and why we will share personal data;
• how long we will keep personal data for and your rights as a data subject

This Privacy Policy has been produced in light of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 2018 and applies to all personal data, as defined in the Regulations. R-Lettings will collect information you supply via this website, such information may include your name, postal address, email address and telephone number in order to respond to your enquiry. Information supplied to us is subject to confidentiality and will not be disclosed without your prior consent other than to the landlord or any other relevant party as detailed further below in this policy, for this purpose and any authorised sub- contractors if provided in relation to the letting and management of property.

This policy also explains your rights as a data subject, including information about the right to access the information we hold about you. In certain circumstances, you also have the right to object to the processing of your data, to request that processing be restricted, or to request that we rectify or erase the data we hold about you. Further information is provided below.

Under data protection law, if you request that we action any of these rights, we must verify your identity before providing information to you. We must also provide you with an explanation if we do not agree with your request.

Any changes to this policy will be posted on our website so that you may be aware of the information that R-Lettings Ltd collect and how it is used at all times and your continued use of the website will be your acknowledgement of your agreement to the new policy.

Information we may collect about you

We use different ways to collect data about you including the information you supply to us when using our services. If you fail to provide certain information we may not be able to provide you with the service you require. The data gathered depends on whether you are an applicant wanting to just view a property, a tenant taking a property or a landlord advertising a property. We will also hold differing amounts of data depending on whether we manage the property for the landlord or not.

As necessary personal data is processed by us, we retain the following data as applicable:

• Name, email and telephone numbers
• Personal/background information including occupation/status
• Bank details
• Verification and credit status
• Right to Rent ID such as copies of passports, driving licenses and residency permits
• Deposit (if any) including return on tenancy termination
• Tenancy details including renewals, joint tenants, other residents and guarantors
• Immigration/right to rent checks (England only)
• Rent and other payments
• Recovery of arrears, claims or possession proceedings
• Repairs/health and safety/housing conditions
• Breach of tenancy terms/nuisance/anti social behaviour
• Council Tax liability
• Water charges payable
• Utilities and services provided
• Welfare Benefits
• Termination of tenancy
• Audio and CCTV recordings (if any)
• Complaints
• Insurance
• Health or disability
• Emails texts and other communications and via our website where we operate one
• Website and online portal information
• Identity and contact details including car registration

We also generate and use data internally, e.g. our rent records if managing the property.

We also collect and receive data about you from third parties. This may be information given to us by the landlord, other tenants or residents or neighbours. It can include information from a guarantor where there is a guarantor for your tenancy or from a joint tenant or other residents. Public bodies such as local authorities or the police, or other law enforcement agencies may give us information about you. This can include the Department for Work and Pensions or the local authority where you are receiving Universal Credit or housing benefit. Information may be given to us relevant to Council Tax by the local authority. Utility companies or service providers may also give us personal information about you. 

We obtain information about you when we carry out credit checks or take up references. We may also receive information from you via websites and online rental portals such as OpenRent.

How your information is used

The various purposes for which it may be necessary for us to process different categories of your information include:

• In our legitimate interests for deciding on the suitability of a proposed tenant/resident;
• In our legitimate interests for verifying the credit worthiness/suitability of tenants/residents;
• Our legal obligation to check immigration status/right to rent. This is also to verify identities;
• To perform our tenancy contract to deal with joint tenants and residents who are linked to the tenancy;
• To perform our contract to complete the tenancy agreement;
• In our legitimate interests to secure rental payments/performance of tenant obligations, e.g. deposits and guarantors;
• For contractual performance for rent collection and collection of other payments such as property insurance (including banking details);
• For contractual performance for managing the tenancy and the property;
• For contractual performance and/or in our legitimate interests for record keeping;
• For contractual performance for arranging repairs and maintaining the condition of the property and keeping it in a safe condition;
• For contractual performance for monitoring and enforcement of tenant responsibilities;
• For contractual performance or in our legitimate interests for recovering debts and other payments due, including any possession proceedings;
• In our legitimate interests for administering liability for Council Tax;
• In our legitimate interests and those of the provider relating to arranging and paying for utilities and services;
• In our legitimate interests for dealing with welfare benefits (including Universal Credit and housing benefit) where payable in respect of the rent;
• In our legitimate interests in relation to tenancy termination including the return of any deposit;
• In our legitimate interests for processing complaints;
• For contractual performance or in our legitimate interests for dealing with health and disability issues relating to tenants/residents;
• In our legitimate interests for obtaining and holding audio and CCTV recordings;
• To perform our legal obligations to provide information to public or local authorities who are legally entitled to require this information;
• In your vital interests for contacting next of kin etc., in an emergency;
• In our legitimate interests for the storage of emails, records of calls and other communications;
• In accordance with our legal obligations if you exercise your rights under data protection law;
• To perform our legal obligations for compliance with legal and regulatory requirements;
• In our legitimate interests for the establishment and defence of legal rights;
• In our legitimate interests for prevention, detection and investigation of crime and anti social behaviour and the security of any website or other means of electronic communication

We may change the purposes where this is compatible for the purpose for which we obtained the data originally. If we need to use your data for a non-compatible purpose we will notify you and explain the legal gateway that allows us to do so. We may process your information without your knowledge where this is required or permitted by law.

Who your data is shared with

Please note your data will never be sold or supplied to a non-relevant party.

In certain circumstances we may share your personal information with:

• the landlord of the property;
• Providers of tenant referencing for referencing;
• Providers of financial advice, insurance and protection products;
• Providers of conveyancing for conveyancing purposes;
• Software platforms to facilitate email marketing;
• Website hosting companies for website hosting;
• Property specialist advisors for specialist advice;
• Property auction companies for auctioneering services;
• Telephone answering service and online chat providers;
• Accountancy software in order to fulfil our contracts for accounting services;
• Surveyors for surveying purposes;
• Debt recovery firms for debt recovery;
• Information that other parties to the contracts and or their legal representatives require, for example on tenancy agreements and sales agreements;
• Utility companies for the transfer of utilities on a property;
• Contractors for necessary maintenance and safety certificates to ensure compliance

Cookies

We and our trusted partners use cookies and other technologies in our related services, including when you visit our Site or access our services. 

A "cookie" is a small piece of information that a website assigns to your device while you are viewing a website. Cookies are very helpful and can be used for various different purposes. These purposes include allowing you to navigate between pages efficiently, enabling automatic activation of certain features, remembering your preferences and making the interaction between you and our Services quicker and easier. Cookies are also used to help make sure that the advertisements you see are relevant to you and your interests and to compile statistical data on your use of our Services. 

The Site uses the following types of cookies:

a. 'session cookies' , which are stored only temporarily during a browsing session in order to allow normal use of the system and are deleted from your device when the browser is closed; 

b. 'persistent cookies', which are read only by the Site, saved on your computer for a fixed period and are not deleted when the browser is closed. Such cookies are used where we need to know who you are for repeat visits, for example to allow us to store your preferences for the next sign-in; 

c. 'third-party cookies' , which are set by other online services who run content on the page you are viewing, for example by third-party analytics companies who monitor and analyse our web access.

Cookies do not contain any information that personally identifies you, but Personal Information that we store about you may be linked, by us, to the information stored in and obtained from cookies. You may remove the cookies by following the instructions of your device preferences; however, if you choose to disable cookies, some features of our Site may not operate properly and your online experience may be limited.

We use a tool which is based on the Snowplow Analytics technology to collect information about your use of the Site. The tool collects information such as how often users access the Site, which pages they visit when they do so, etc. The tool does not collect any Personal Information and is only used by our Site hosting and operating service provider to improve the Site and services.

Third-party collection of information

Our policy only addresses the use and disclosure of information we collect from you. To the extent you disclose your information to other parties or sites throughout the internet, different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of the information you disclose to them. Accordingly, we encourage you to read the terms and conditions and privacy policy of each third party that you choose to disclose information to. 

This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of companies that we do not own or control, nor to individuals whom we do not employ or manage, including any of the third parties which we may disclose information to as set out in this Privacy Policy. 

Transfer of data outside the EEA 

Please note that some data recipients may be located outside the EEA. In such cases we will transfer your data only to such countries as approved by the European Commission as providing adequate level of data protection, or enter into legal agreements ensuring an adequate level of data protection.

Telephone and website recording

We record telephone calls. We may also use web site recording services which may record mouse clicks, mouse movements, page scrolling and any text keyed into website forms. Information collected in such a fashion is for our internal use only. 

The information collected is used to improve our website usability and is stored and used for aggregated and statistical reporting.

Updates or amendments to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to periodically amend or revise the Privacy Policy; material changes will be effective immediately upon the display of the revised Privacy policy. 

The last revision will be reflected in the "Last modified" section. Your continued use of the Platform, following the notification of such amendments on our website, constitutes your acknowledgment and consent of such amendments to the Privacy Policy and your agreement to be bound by the terms of such amendments.

Contacting the Information Commissioner’s Office

If you are concerned about our processing of your data or if you have a privacy-related query not answered by this policy, please contact our team using the contact details below. 

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). For further information, please refer to the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk).

What are my rights as a data subject?

Data protection law gives you the following rights:

• to object to the processing of personal data.

In certain circumstances, individuals have the right to object to the processing of personal data. Any such objection must be based on your particular situation. We will review each request we receive and if we refuse your request, we will inform you of the reason why we have not taken action.

• to access personal data.

Individuals have the right to request a copy of the data held about them. R-Lettings are required to verify your identity before passing you information and we may contact you upon receipt of your request to clarify your request. We will be unable to process your request until we have all the required information.

• to be informed about the processing of personal data.

Individuals have the right to be informed about the collection and use of personal data. This information is contained within this privacy policy.

• to request that the processing of personal data be restricted.

Individuals may have the right to request the restriction or suppression of personal data. This right will only apply in certain circumstances.

• to request that personal data is corrected if it is inaccurate.

Individuals may request that inaccurate personal data is rectified or completed if it is incomplete.

• to ask that personal data be erased.

The right to erasure is also known as ‘the right to be forgotten’ and individuals can request that their personal data is erased. This right will only apply in certain circumstances. We may decline your request for personal data to be erased, if the law requires us to do so or for reasons of our legitimate interest. We will advise you with 28 days, by writing, if we decline your request and outline the reasons why.

• to request to move, copy or transfer personal data (“Data Portability”).

The right to data portability allows individuals to move, copy or transfer personal data easily from one IT environment to another. This right will only apply in certain circumstances.

• rights relating to automated decision making, including profiling

Individuals have the right to be given information about such processing, request human intervention or challenge a decision. This right will only apply in certain circumstances.

Contacting R-Lettings Ltd for other privacy related queries

If you have any further questions about our privacy policy which are not outlined or clearly answered in the above, you can contact us by emailing info@rlettings.co.uk 

Last Modified: 30/09/2022