Tenant screening without breaking GDPR: what you may check
A landlord wants to be sure that the person receiving the keys will pay the rent and hand the flat back in roughly the condition it was in. That is only natural. The catch is that you cannot collect whatever comes to mind, because screening a candidate means processing personal data, with everything that follows from it. Every question asked in conversation, every application form, every scanned document already forms a data set, and the landlord answers for it as the controller. In practice it comes down to three things: why you collect, how much you collect and how long you keep it.
Tenant screening is personal data processing
What the tenanto team sees is that trouble rarely comes from bad intentions. Far more often it appears when a landlord gathers documents out of habit, with no idea what they will be used for or when they will disappear from the drive. Scans end up in email, photos in a messenger, notes in a spreadsheet. And a year later nobody knows who else still has access to them.
The principle itself is simple: you may ask about what genuinely helps you make a decision and sign the lease. Anything beyond that scope needs a justification you can give. What follows describes market practice, not an interpretation of the law - in disputed matters, consult a lawyer. You will find more practical guidance in our advice for rental property owners.
Data you may ask for before signing the lease
The scope justified by the purpose of concluding a lease is narrower than the forms circulating online suggest. It usually covers:
- the candidate’s first and last name,
- an identity document shown for inspection, to confirm the data matches,
- a correspondence address,
- a phone number and email address,
- information about the source of income,
- the number of people who will live in the flat.
And here it pays to separate two stages. To choose a candidate, contact details, general information about income and the number of residents are enough. The PESEL number and the document series and number come into play only when you draw up the lease agreement and the parties have to be identified precisely. The control question is always the same: will I use this information to make a decision, or do I just want to have it in case?
Tip: inspecting a document means comparing the data, not making a copy for the drawer.
What not to collect, even if the candidate offers it
Some information has no justification whatsoever in renting out a flat and should not make it into the form or the screening conversation:
- health condition and past treatment,
- religion, political views, sexual orientation,
- plans to have children,
- trade union membership,
- criminal record data.
A full scan of an ID card is another typical excess. A complete photo of the document contains far more than you need to confirm the candidate is who they say they are. And no, consent does not fix this. Someone who badly wants to get the flat will agree to practically any question, so that consent arises under a clear imbalance between the parties. Treat data about children, flatmates and a guarantor separately - they do not go into the form automatically. The rule is common sense: the less data you gather, the less you risk in a leak, a dispute or an inspection.
How to verify income and payment reliability
The ability to pay rent regularly can be confirmed in several ways, differing in how much information they reveal. A certificate from an employer shows only the fact of employment and the level of pay. A statement of income made by the candidate, with responsibility for its content, puts the burden on the other side and needs no attachments. A bank statement reveals the most at once - which is why the candidate can black out entries unrelated to incoming payments, and the landlord looks at the document instead of keeping a copy.
Debtor registers and economic information bureaus act on the request of the person the data concerns. It is the candidate who obtains a report about themselves and shows it to the landlord, not the other way round. Collect references from a previous landlord only with the knowledge of the person concerned, and limit the questions to payment punctuality and the condition of the flat. That is enough. It is worth remembering that even the best screening does not replace protecting your property, meaning the deposit and insurance for a rented flat.
Tip: settle on one set of questions and use it with every candidate. Varying the scope of screening easily turns into an accusation of unequal treatment.
Confirming identity and checking the other side’s legal standing
Comparing the data on the document with what the candidate gave in their application catches the simplest discrepancies. A typo in a surname or a different address is a signal to ask a question, not a reason to reject the application. In remote lettings, a phone call and a video call confirm that there is a real person on the other side holding the document that was shown. They say nothing about that person’s financial situation.
It works both ways, by the way. A tenant has the right to check whether the landlord actually holds title to the flat, and a willingness to show such confirmation usually shortens the negotiations. For foreign nationals, a residence document confirms identity, while collecting details about migration status beyond what the agreement requires is excessive. With unusual arrangements - a corporate lease, subletting, a guarantor taking part - discuss the structure with a lawyer before signing.
What to do with the documents once you have chosen a tenant
This is the stage most often skipped. The agreement is signed, the keys handed over, and the applications of a dozen or so rejected candidates stay in the mailbox and in a folder on the drive with no deletion date at all. Tidying this up takes fifteen minutes:
- define the purpose of every document you have on the drive,
- note the date you obtained it,
- set the moment it will be deleted,
- erase copies from email and messengers,
- keep only the data tied to the signed agreement.
Documentation on the tenant whose agreement actually went ahead has a far longer justification for storage than the applications of people who were not chosen. The biggest risk is scattering - the same scans sit in a messenger, in email and in a spreadsheet at the same time. One place, with access limited to the owner, closes that problem. In tenanto, tenant data and documents are held with the specific agreement and flat, together with the rent payment records, so nothing travels around in attachments. The full scope of what the system covers is described in the feature list. Handling one flat is free and does not expire after any period.
Questions and answers
Can I make a copy of a candidate’s ID card?
In practice it is enough to inspect it and write down the data you enter into the agreement. A copy of the whole document covers a wider range of information than the purpose of screening requires, and in a dispute it is hard to show why it was needed. It is safer to record only what will end up in the text of the agreement anyway. Answers to other recurring questions are gathered in our frequently asked questions.
Summary
Screening a candidate properly and protecting their data do not stand in conflict. The problem tends to be excess, not the checking itself. Before every request for a document, ask yourself three questions: what do I need this for, is inspection enough, when will I delete it. A single set of questions for everyone interested keeps the decision orderly and protects you from an accusation of unequal treatment. Discuss unusual cases with a lawyer instead of relying on templates found online. And the whole process is easier to keep under control when the data lives in one system together with the agreement, instead of dissolving into mailboxes and drives.
