What documents to ask a candidate for (and which not to)
Checking solvency is legitimate; asking for everything is not. What genuinely evidences ability to pay and where the line falls.
Choosing a tenant is the decision that most determines how the tenancy will go, and the one most often made on instinct.
What it makes sense to ask for
- Recent payslips or, for the self-employed, quarterly returns and last year's tax return.
- Employment contract or proof of activity.
- A reference from the previous landlord, if there is one. It is the most useful and the least requested.
- Identity document, at the point of signing.
What is best not to ask
Information that does not evidence solvency and does stray into personal territory: marital status, plans to have children, health, origin or beliefs. As well as saying nothing about whether they will pay, filtering on those grounds is discriminatory.
A figure to calibrate against: the usual rule of thumb is that the rent should not exceed around a third of the household's net income. It is indicative, but it avoids the most expensive mistake, which is letting to someone with very little margin.
Data protection
All of that documentation is personal data. Ask only for what you need, do not keep it indefinitely, and **destroy the files of rejected candidates**. Piling up folders of payslips from people you did not let to is an unnecessary risk.
And a warning about rushing
September is the month of highest demand and the one that pushes hardest towards a quick decision. An empty month costs considerably less than a year of arrears: if something does not add up, keep looking.
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