Get your data out of the “bad tenant” databases

Renters United has worked with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to create a set of privacy guidelines for landlords and renters. These guidelines regulate what information landlords and property managers can and can’t legally ask their tenants to provide.

Address alerts / ex-tenant tracker

Address alerts allow landlords to be notified when that tenant has their background checked by another landlord. Illion advertises address alerts as a way for landlords to be notified when a current tenant is intending to move, or as a tool to enforce tribunal orders.

The Privacy Act requires you must be informed about the purpose your information was collected for, the information should only be used for that purpose, and that your information may be kept for no longer than required to fulfil that purpose.

You should take the opportunity to request any personal information illion Tenancy holds on you. We recommend you use the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s Tool to request a copy of any personal information they hold on you, a clarification about what purpose the information was collected for, and how long they intent to keep your information to fulfil that purpose.

If you believe that illion Tenancy may have breached your privacy you should get in touch with your local Community Law Centre.

Tenant databases

There are a handful of companies operating in New Zealand that provide technical and software services to landlords. Part of these services are access to large databases containing personal information used by landlords and property managers to vet potential tenants.

Under the Privacy Act, you have the right to access and contest the information in these databases.

To access information held by

If you have further concerns, we encourage you to visit our help page and contact your local tenants’ advocacy service.

“Bad tenants” Facebook groups

In recent years, several private groups on social media sites like Facebook have been created by landlords in order to share information about tenants who they deem problematic. These groups are generally private and the people named have often not consented for their information to be shared in this way, and are not offered a right of reply. We want to be clear: this is against the law.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner, the government body that monitors and regulates the sharing of personal information in New Zealand, has been working over the past 6 months to eliminate these groups. If you know your information has been shared in one of these groups without your consent, you should make a complaint.

Making a complaint

Before you can make a complaint you need to get in touch with the organisation that holds your personal information and ask them to resolve the issue. If they do not resolve your issue, and you believe what they have done has caused you or someone you know harm, then you can make a complaint.

Complaints can be made via the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s website. If you have further concerns, we encourage you to visit our help page and contact your local tenants’ advocacy service.