In residential leases, landlords are able to request certain information from prospective tenants. This is usually an indication of the type of tenant they wish to rent to.
A landlord may also want a more thorough screening than this. In some cases, they may want you to provide evidence of sufficient income or savings in addition to information about your current employment status. You will be required to submit documents like recent pay stubs or bank account statements, which could contain sensitive financial information.
Information that a landlord is allowed to request:
1. References – A landlord will be interested in learning about our previous rental history. To do this, they typically request the contact information of your previous landlords so that they can contact them to inquire about their experience with you. References may also be for employers, relatives or friends.
2. Salary – To verify your ability to afford the rent, landlords may ask for the following documents to support your income level:
3. Post-dated Cheques – Landlords in B.C. are allowed to collect post-dated cheques from a tenant. You will need to check the specific regulations within your province as in certain provinces like Quebec, such practices are not allowed.
4. The number of people living in the unit and their ages - contrary to employment interviews and background checks, landlords are allowed to inquire about the age of the people living in their unit. 5. Work schedule - While less common, landlords are allowed to inquire about the prospective tenant's current work schedule and/or hours they work per week.
