Landlords who asks tenants for too much personal information and who use online renter blacklists are on notice, according to Privacy Commissioner John Edwards.
The warning comes one week before a change in our rental laws makes it more difficult to evict tenants.
One renter who struggled to find a place to live was Auckland student Jessica Clapp, with a request for bank statements from one agency leaving her cold.
"They just wanted more and more information and it got quite invasive to the point where I withdrew my application," she said.
Clapp says it plays on the vulnerability of renters in a competitive market.
"You apply for maybe a mouldy place or overpriced place to just try find a place to live and then you're getting asked for bank statements," she said.
John Edwards is launching a probe as anecdotes from renters about intrusive vetting have also increased in recent months. (Source: Other)
Edwards has since launched a crackdown on what he calls an unfair practice.
He says unreasonably intrusive questions by property managers and landlords is a growing issue.
"You don't actually need, as a landlord, to know how somebody has spent all their discretionary income for the last two years, every trips to McDonald's or whatever," he said on Breakfast.
Renters shared with 1 NEWS on Facebook yesterday a range of concerning questions they were asked, including sexual orientation.
There is also concern around landlords accessing online databases of so-called "bad tenants".
It comes ahead of further tenancy law changes, coming into effect next week, which will see no-cause terminations scrapped.
"I think this is why we're seeing this concern, I suppose, from some landlords who are worried that if they get the wrong person in, it's going to be very, very much harder to get them out," Property Investors' Federation's Andrew King said.
While there is some information that is necessary for landlords to gather, questions on someone's gender, nationality, disability or detailed banking history have grounds for being unlawful.
Clapp said while she understands why some landlords may be hesitant, "I guess we need to trust each other and respect each other's privacy."
The Privacy Office has guidance on its website and would like to hear from tenants with concerns.
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