In relation to the running of your property business, there may be certain reasons why you may need to be registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). It is not often I find people who are aware of this fact, hence the purpose of writing this post in order to bring you up to speed.
If you handle anyone’s personal details in the running of your property portfolio, such as for lead generation, tenant information and in particular if you process your own referencing for tenants, then you must register for Data Protection with the ICO. This is not an onerous process, just a matter of filling in a few details, either online or as a paper application. The cost is just £35 and is good protocol to register if you are a landlord/investor.
The main reason for signing up is to learn how to handle data properly and avoid the risk of compromising or losing all-important personal data. For example, if you are taking and storing tenants’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, National Insurance Numbers, ID documentation, etc, then the data must be processed and stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.
The ICO states that you must register (notify) under the Data Protection Act below:
“The Data Protection Act 1998 requires every data controller (e.g. organisation, sole trader) who is processing personal information to register with the ICO, unless they are exempt.”
For more information and to find out whether you need to register for Data Protection with the ICO, follow this link.
By reading through the guidelines, you will discover the best way to handle and store people’s data in a professional and secure manner. Being a responsible landlord involves best practice activities and this certainly constitutes that.
With so many important aspects to think and know about running a property business, I have put together a report which you can download with my compliments which is entitled:
‘What To Know Before You Buy Your Next Investment Property’
For full access, hop across to here and you can download the report immediately.
Hazel
Hazel de Kloe
Property Investor | Property Mentor | Speaker | Author
The contents of this article are for educational purposes only and we make no recommendation of any particular property purchase. The price of property can decrease as well as increase and you make any investments in property at your own risk.
© Why Property Works 2016 | www.whypropertyworks.co.uk
