Bríd Smith TD: Demands on prospective buyers may breech data protection
Bríd Smith TD has questioned the practice of some estate agents looking for detailed financial information from prospective buyers seeking to view houses.
People Before Profit TD said the level of detailed financial information demanded before viewings was outrageous and raised a number of serious issues, including the risk of a database of buyers incomes and potential price ceilings that would be in the hands of estate agents. The TD has written to the Property Services Regulatory Authority and the DPC seeking action and guidelines on the retention of such information.
Deputy Smith said that the list of documents required by one well known estate agent to allow people view a property was astonishing and showed that the property market was out of control in so many ways. Among the list from the estate agents was a demand of evidence of all savings, and of any “gifts” from family members.
The TD will raise the practice in the Dáil this week and with the Minister for Finance.
She said: “We are already familiar with requests for fees for viewing rental properties, but this latest practice is well beyond the standard information that might reasonably be requested and there are real issues here with data protection. It is yet another sign of a system and market that is out of control in terms of what it thinks it can demand from people. Some control over these practices must be asserted by the state to protect people’s interests.”
