FAQ’s for Business Members

Answer: Tenancy Reference Data is data supplied to Excentum by Landlords, Letting Agents, Letting Agencies, Property Management Companies and other authorised agents acting on behalf of Landlords (Business Members) in relation data and personal opinion regarding periods of tenancy in residential properties.

Answer: Yes, the Tenancy Reference Data supplied by Business Members to Excentum does not constitute ‘Personal Data’ about a tenant in accordance with the Data Protection Act, and does not prevent Landlords, Letting Agents, Letting Agencies, Property Management Companies and other authorised agents (Business Members) acting on behalf of Landlords (Business Members) from sharing this Tenancy Data with others where ‘Legitimate Interest’s’ exist.

‘Personal Data’ refers to data which relates to a living individual who can be identified – (a) from those data, or (b) from those data and other information which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, the data controller, in this instance Excentum. Excentum will not be able to identify any individual from any data provided by a Business Member nor will it hold, or have access to, any other data or information which could lead to the identification of the individual.

Tenancy Reference Data provided by Excentum to Business Members could eventual constitute ‘Personal Data‘ , only where the Business Member acting as a ‘Data Controller’ in their own right is in possession of Tenancy Reference Data supplied by Excentum and has access to, or seeks to obtain, other data which could lead to the identification of an individual. However, Tenancy Reference Data held by Excentum, and supplied to Business Members, does not itself constitute ‘Personal Data’ in the absence of such secondary data which could lead to the identification of an individual.

In this instance, the ‘Legitimate Interest’s’ condition provides grounds to process this type of data in a situation where an individual, business or organisation needs to do so for the purpose of its own legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of the third party that the information is disclosed to.

Excentum is satisfied that the processing of the data, identified as Tenancy Reference Data, complies with this definition and does not prejudice the rights and freedoms or legitimate interests of any individual where data is being processed.

Answer: No. Tenancy Reference Data submitted to Excentum relates to your ‘data’ as a Landlord / Landlords Agent, on behalf of the Landlord, and to your experience and opinion of the Tenancy Period in question. It does not contain any ‘Personally Identifiable Information’ about an individual or tenant. You do not need the permission of a current or previous tenant to submit your own data in the form of Tenancy Reference Data to Excentum.

However, it is recommended ‘good practice’ in relation to the management and processing of data that you should inform tenants that you do submit Tenancy Reference Data to Excentum, that they have a right of access to see such data held by Excentum and that such data may be accessible by other Excentum Business Members.

Answer: No. You do not have to inform or advise any individual of your intention to conduct a Tenancy Reference Data search with Excentum, or of your intention to seek to rely on data obtained from Excentum, either solely or in conjunction with other data, in relation to the processing of any application or submission from an individual for tenancy, employment, credit or financial services – where such action is not in contravention of the Equality Act 2010 or where such action is not in contravention of any legally enforceable industry regulation.

However, it is recommended ‘good practice’ in relation to the management and processing of data that you should inform applicants of your intention to conduct a Tenancy Reference Data search with Excentum, that they have a right of access to see such data held by Excentum and that such data may be accessible by other Excentum Business Members.

Answer: Yes. You are not legally prohibited from refusing an application for tenancy, employment, credit or financial services where you have sought to rely on data provided by Excentum, either solely or in conjunction with other data, in determining the outcome of such application – where such decision is not in contravention of the Equality Act 2010 or where such decision is not in contravention of any other legally enforceable regulation or law.

Answer: No. Tenancy Reference Data submitted to Excentum relates to your ‘data’ as a Landlord / Landlords Agent, on behalf of the Landlord, and to your experience and opinion of the Tenancy Period in question. It does not contain any ‘Personally Identifiable Information’ about an individual or tenant.

However, it is recommended ‘good practice’ in relation to the management and processing of data that you should inform tenants that you do submit Tenancy Reference Data to Excentum, by means of a notice in any rental or lease agreement with your Tenants. However, this is a matter for individual Landlords / Landlords Agents to decide. You can seek further guidance on the matter from the Information Commisisoners Office (ICO).

Answer: Tenancy Reference Data can provide Landlords, Letting Agents, Letting Agencies, Property Management Companies, other authorised agents acting on behalf of Landlords (Business Members) and other Business Members, with data in relation to tenancy periods of residential property where a person / applicant has sought to rely on referencing a specific tenancy period where verification of residence is required as part of an application process.

Sharing this data with other Landlords, Letting Agents, Letting Agencies, Property Management Companies, other authorised agents acting on behalf of Landlords (Business Members) and other Business Members, can support any verification processes where verification of residence is required as part of an application process.

This type of data can also be relevant and useful to other types of businesses in the processing and validating of applications for Employment, Insurance, Credit or Financial services which may use Tenancy Reference Data and Tenancy verification as part of any application or assessment process.

Answer: Not all Landlords, Letting Agents, Letting Agencies, Property Management Companies and other authorised agents, acting on behalf of Landlords, are Business Members of Excentum. As such they cannot submit Tenancy Reference Data to Excentum.

Answer: Yes, the source of Tenancy Reference Data will remain anonymous if the Landlord, Letting Agent, Letting Agency, Property Management Company and other authorised agent, acting on behalf of a Landlord (Business Member), who submitted the Tenancy Reference Data to Excentum wish to remain anonymous.

Where a Business Member requests the use of our Tenancy Reference Data Matching Service, Excentum will check the data supplied by the Business Member against its Tenancy Reference Data records. If a data match occurs, the Tenancy Reference Data the Business Member will receive will not include any information about the Business Member (Landlord or ‘Agent’) who submitted the original Tenancy Reference Data to Excentum – unless the party who submitted the original Tenancy Reference Data to Excentum has explicitly agreed to be identified to parties requesting Tenancy Reference Data.

If a Tenant/Individual makes a ‘Subject Access Request’ for a copy of Tenancy Reference Data relatable to them, the Tenancy Reference Data they receive will not include any information about the Landlord, Letting Agent, Letting Agency, Property Management Company, or other authorised agents acting on behalf of Landlords, who submitted the original Tenancy Reference Data to Excentum, as this information is protected from disclosure by Data Protection legislation.

Answer: The Tenant/Individual who claims Tenancy Reference Data is relatable to them, the ‘Data Subject’, can seek to dispute any factual errors or inaccuracies contained in Tenancy Reference Data held by Excentum.

Data Subjects can seek to exercise a ‘Right of Amendment and Correction’ to alter, amend, correct or update any Tenancy Reference Data held by Excentum, only where such request is compatible with rights of an individual as conferred under Data Protection Legislation. This right does not apply to any opinion expressed by a Landlord or Landlords Agent (Business Member).

Please see the Tenants – Dispute Tenancy Reference Data section in the Tenants section of this website.

The Data Subject always retains the right to contest any Tenancy Reference Data held, or made available to Business Members, by Excentum as part of its Tenancy Reference Data Matching Service with the ICO (Information Commissioners Office) who will provide ultimate adjudication on the matter.

Excentum reserves the right to remove any Tenancy Reference Data, that in its sole opinion violates, or may violate, any applicable law or the letter or spirit of its policies, as it sees fit or upon the request of any third party.

Answer: Tenancy Reference Data is only accepted from Business Members who are:

• Landlords,
• Letting Agents,
• Letting Agencies,
• Property Management Companies, and
• other authorised agents acting on behalf of Landlords (Business Members)

Excentum will not accept Tenancy Reference Data from ‘other types’ Business Members who are not Landlords or Landlords Agents, as described above.

Business Members can submit Tenancy Reference Data to Excentum using the Submit a Tenancy Reference page, under the Business Members section on the top of page navigation.

Answer: Requests for use of the Excentum Tenancy Reference Data Matching Service are only accepted from Landlords, companies and businesses which are registered Business Members with Excentum – please see the complete list of eligible business types on our Business Membership page.

As a registered Business Member you can request use of our Tenancy Reference Data Matching Services using our Request Tenancy Reference Data form page.

Answer: When a request for Tenancy Reference Data is made by a Business Member, Excentum will automatically acknowledge receipt of the request on submission. Excentum will confirm Business Membership and the submitted data against the Tenancy Reference Data it holds. If a match occurs the Business Member will be advised of the match and should receive the data by e-mail within 24 – 48 hours.

Answer: Business Membership is free, there is no cost or charge. Requesting access to our Tenancy Reference Data Matching Service is free, but there are limits on the numbers of requests that can be submitted per month.

Each Business Member can submit a maximum of 100 Tenancy Reference Data Matching Service requests per month. Businesses that require access to additional Tenancy Reference Data Matching Service requests per month can be facilitated on request – please use our Contact Us page for more information.

Answer: No. Excentum does not seek to validate the content of Tenancy Reference Data submitted by Landlords and their Agents (Business Members).

Excentum only manages, stores and shares data as is requested by Business Members in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Excentum service. The liability for the accuracy and completeness of the data submitted rests with the Business Member submitting the data to Excentum.

Excentum does seek to validate the identity of the Landlord / Business Member, seeking to submit the Tenancy Reference Data, during their initial membership registration process by requiring applicants to provide proof of identity by means of:

• Copies of Photo or other official Identification documents (UK and Eire) – Landlords only
• Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) Number: (UK)
• Property Registered Tenancy (RT) Number: (Eire)
• Property Services Regulatory Authority (PRSA) Number: (Eire)
• Companies House Number (UK) / CRO Number (Eire)
• ICO Number (UK) / Data Protection Number (Eire)

By submitting Tenancy Reference Data to Excentum, Landlords, Letting Agents, Letting Agencies, Property Management Companies and other authorised agents acting on behalf of Landlords (Business Members) accept and agree that they are solely responsible for, and assume all liability regarding, (i) the information and content contributed to Excentum by means of any Tenancy Reference Data provided or have provided for on their behalf by any other party; and (ii) the information and content submitted, transmitted, published, or otherwise made available (hereinafter “Submission”) to Excentum and its Tenancy Reference Data records.

Landlords, Letting Agents, Letting Agencies, Property Management Companies and other authorised agents acting on behalf of Landlords (Business Members) further accept and agree that they will not provide inaccurate, misleading or false information to Excentum. If information provided to Excentum is subsequently found to be, or becomes inaccurate, misleading or false, Landlords, Letting Agents, Letting Agencies, Property Management Companies and other authorised agents acting on behalf of Landlords (Business Members) accept and agree that will promptly notify Excentum of such change.

Excentum reserves the right to remove any Tenancy Reference Data, that in its sole opinion violates, or may violate, any applicable law or the letter or spirit of its policies, as it sees fit or upon the request of any third party.

Answer: NO. You cannot require that an individual make a Subject Access Request to Excentum in order to obtain copies of data held about them by Excentum. Doing so is deemed as requiring a person to make ‘Enforced Subject Access’ and may be illegal under Section 56 of the Data Protection Act.

Section 56(1) of the Data Protection Act states: “(1) A person must not, in connection with (a) the recruitment of another person as an employee, (b) the continued employment of another person, or (c) any contract for the provision of services to him by another person, require that other person or a third party to supply them with a relevant record or to produce a relevant record to them”

Any individual engaging in Enforced Subject Access requests will be deemed to have breeched the terms and conditions of the Excentum service, and wil no longer qualify for Business Membership of Excentum.

Answer: You can apply for Business Membership by completing the online application form on the Make a Business Membership Enquiry page.

Answer: Excentum is funded by revenue generation streams created by direct marketing advertising and promotional activities.