Real Estate

What Landlord sees on credit check, and how to protect myself

  • Last Updated:
  • Aug 24th, 2017 3:50 pm
Member
Mar 10, 2009
317 posts
281 upvotes
Toronto
Rothesay wrote: Ok. Let's turn this around, can I obtain a mortgage from a bank or a mortgage broker without providing them my SIN? I seriously don't know, because when they asked, I have always provided as I always thought it is a mandatory requirement.
You can obtain a mortgage from the bank without providing your SIN. The bank can obtain your credit bureau file without your SIN.

You *are* required to provide your SIN to the bank though if you open accounts that generate interest or income. This is for tax purposes.

For more information, see this page on the Government of Canada Website

Specifically:
When you don’t have to provide your SIN
Some private-sector organizations may ask for your SIN. This practice is strongly discouraged, but it is not illegal.


Here are examples of when you don’t have to give your SIN:

proving your identity (except for specific government programs)
completing a job application before you get the job
completing an application to rent a property
negotiating a lease with a landlord

completing a credit card application
cashing a cheque
completing some banking transactions (mortgage, line of credit, loan)
completing a medical questionnaire
renting a car
subscribing to long-distance or cellular telephone services
writing a will
applying to a university or college
Deal Addict
Mar 28, 2008
2076 posts
902 upvotes
ON
Rothesay wrote: Ok. Let's turn this around, can I obtain a mortgage from a bank or a mortgage broker without providing them my SIN? I seriously don't know, because when they asked, I have always provided as I always thought it is a mandatory requirement.
And to add, when private organizations ask, they are supposed to tell you it's not required:
The organization must also tell the person that they do not have to provide their SIN if they do not want to.
Deal Addict
Sep 13, 2016
3606 posts
2409 upvotes
Mississauga
I have been a renter, and now live in my own home. And I feel OP's concerns are very genuine. SIN is a very sensitive piece of information and should be protected as much as possible. I fail to see why landlords cannot obtain a credit report with other information which a tenant will be more comfortable sharing. An alternative can be to ask the applicant to provide the last 3 or 4 digits of the SIN to verify against the credit report they have. In a totally worst case scenario, the landlord could work this with tenant and have them create an account and order a credit report from Equifax. The landlord can then ask the tenant to login to Equifax in front of them and can go through the credit report together.

Bottom line is that the tenants should understand concerns of the landlord, and landlords should also understand and appreciate concerns of the tenant. It is totally unethical for the landlord to put the SIN field on the form, make it optional, and then reject applications which do not have a SIN. It's as good as saying that SIN is mandatory, but lying about it to not land into a legal mess.
Banned
Aug 10, 2017
198 posts
120 upvotes
A landlord has to protect their investment. If that means obtaining information that the tenant cannot change (which is a SIN) in order to track them down later if they were to owe money, cause excessive damage etc.. it makes it easier to track them.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Mar 31, 2008
13011 posts
3095 upvotes
Toronto
I got a credit check provided to me by a property manager and it was quite abbreviated. Gave address history and basically just credit score range. Not the actual number. Also employment information. This was a 'credit' decision report so it's cheaper to run. It doesn't require a SIN.
Sr. Member
Aug 14, 2007
562 posts
314 upvotes
Ottawa
If there are two potential tenants:

Tenant A is willing provide SIN and let the landlord to do full credit check, and the credit check result show the tenant credit score is good

Tenant B is not willing to give SIN to let the landlord to do credit check, instead, bring their own credit report and the result show the tenant credit score is good

As a landlord, I will pick tenant A over B. Just like any other things, people will measure their own risk. When the rental market is hot and there are lots of potential renters, landlords are looking for tenant who are willing to cooperate and not taking any risk.

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