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Jo C.
Jo C., Barrister
Category: Law
Satisfied Customers: 71142
Experience:  Over 5 years in practice
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Hello, I was wondering if you could let me know whom I should

Customer Question

Hello, I was wondering if you could let me know whom I should complain to about a letting agency that asks us (myself and my husband) to complete a CRB and the form they are asking us to complete is not a CRB form but a company form belonging to a stand alone company (travel company) which asks for a long set of personal details (including NI number, Driver licence number, mother maiden name, passport number, fire arms licence, etc. etc). The form states that it is for that particluar company and states we are an employee (which we are not obviously and I am in fact a director of my own company). So I know we will be breaking the law by completing this and also I think they are breaking the law by asking us to complete it and by asking for all this personal information.
Can you please let me know whom I should inform and complain to? (As both the agency and the landlord is at fault here as the landlord is asking for this and I found out that the company that the CRB form belongs to is owned by the landlord and we were asked to send the completed form to his PA....)

Many thanks in advance,

Maya
Submitted: 4 years ago.
Category: Law
Jo C.
Expert:  Jo C. replied 4 years ago.
Hi.

Thank you for your question. My name is Jo and I will try to help with this.

What are you hoping to achieve?
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Customer: replied 4 years ago.

Thanks.


I would not want to give them all those details.


I would also not want to have a CRB because it feels wrong to me.


I know that if I report this then we wont take the house but I am also wondering if I should be entering into a rental agreement with a landlord that is not honest.


I guess I wonder what your opinion is in terms of the legality of this first of all.


Maya
Expert:  Jo C. replied 4 years ago.
Ok.

But whats the loss here?

I presume you haven't had the CRB?
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Customer: replied 4 years ago.

No, I have not had the CRB as I refuse to complete the form.


 


I am interested to know if from a legal point of view what they are asking us to do is ok.


 


And if not - who do I report this to?


 


(I have the emails they have sent with the company name and the form asking us to complete that we are employees of this company).


 


We are on a tight timescales for moving out and this will mean now that we cannot leave where we are though we booked removal etc.
Expert:  Jo C. replied 4 years ago.
Thanks.

Sorry for the delay. I've just picked this up.

I'm not sure what you want to achieve here? They are free to ask any questions they like unless they offend against equal opportunities like sex, race, sexuality etc.

You are perfectly free to refuse to answer any or all of those questions. If you do then the landlord can refuse to let to you. Whether he will or not is another matter but if he does then he commits no offence.

It does not matter what the form is. Nobody can force you to complete it. Obviously if you do complete it then it should be done truthfully and accurately.

If the Agent is a member of the Property Ombudsman scheme, you can make a complaint to the Ombudsman but you can only complain about the fact that youhave been asked to give information and to sign the document which has been incorrectly filled in by the agent.

You cannot complain about the format or type of the form or the details that you have been asked for, because as I said, you are free to either divulge that information or refuse.

If the Agent is not a member of the Property Ombudsman scheme, then as there is no loss and as no fraud has been committed, the police would not be interested.

I'm sorry this isn't the answer you wanted but it is the position that you face and I have a duty to inform you truthfully.

Hope this helps. Please let me know if you need more information.

Jo
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