Ticked off: Regional research on tenancy data bases and homelessness
by Catherine Mahoney
December 2002

For a number of years now the existence of tenancy database services or blacklists has been identified as a barrier for disadvantaged people trying to access the private rental market.

In the NCOSS publication Cash and Cowboys, (Johnston, 1999) tenancy database services are defined as:

"formalised databases on tenants' histories beyond the records that would be kept in any one provider's databases, where information on tenants is exchanged between providers. The use of these databases could prohibit a tenant's re-entry into the rental market where information in them is used to refuse an application for a tenancy."

These blacklists have raised specific concerns about privacy and the 'factual' nature of the data held about tenants.

Tenancy database services began to emerge in response to the Privacy Act of 1988 (Commonwealth) in 1991. The Act limited restricted access to credit reports to credit providers, thus preventing real estate agents from using these databases to access information about a prospective tenants credit history. One of the largest tenancy database services is the Tenancy Information Centre Australasian Holdings Ltd or TICA. According to its website, the TICA System will enable real estates to "enquire if a tenancy applicant has previously defaulted prior to placing them into your property". However the term 'default' is not restricted to Tribunal orders and can be a subjective opinion of the real estate or owner.

Where tenants breach agreements landlords and real estate agents have access to remedies under the Residential Tenancies Act and the Landlord and Tenant (Rental Bonds) Act. Listing tenants with a tenancy database is basically a punitive measure. According to the federal privacy commissioner, Malcolm Compton, these "listings often follow an argument with an estate agent, and were insidious because they occur without the knowledge of the consumer who suddenly found him or herself unable to rent" (SMH, 11/11/02).

Some of the key consumer issues relating to tenancy database services include:

• Tenants usually don't know they are on a database or will be placed on one. There is even less opportunity for them to know why they are listed
• Information supplied by agents and landlords is usually taken at face value rather than obtained from the Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal. This increases the likelihood of the spread of disinformation about tenants
• There are very limited opportunities for tenants to rectify incorrect information about them. Consequently data may not be corrected or updated.
• A tenant may remain listed for unacceptably long periods of time. It is common practice for tenant records involving debt to remain on a database for another five years after the debt has been cleared.
• All these factors have the potential to adversely impact on a tenant's capacity to access housing in the private rental market.

Research undertaken in the Tweed Valley area will provide very useful data on the relationship between tenant databases on homelessness. Leone Crayden from the Tweed River Valley Fellowship has undertaken research in this area as part of a Graduate Diploma in Social Sciences. This has included interviewing 150 people seeking emergency housing assistance in a six-month period. Initial analysis indicates that at least 65% of these people were listed on the TICA database. The research has also included interviews with 20 real estate agents and will be available early next year.

Leone's research is generally concerned with tenancy databases, but the focus of her work has been specifically focused on the TICA database. From her research it appears that TICA has the most influence on the market in northern NSW. Although the research is not yet completed, it is clear from the work to date that inclusion on the TICA database, at least in northern NSW, has a strong relationship to the incidence of homelessness.

Through her work with the Tweed River Valley Fellowship, which provides support and accommodation for people with a mental illness, Leone found that a "major obstacle in obtaining rental accommodation was an intangible thing called 'the black list'". In the process of assisting hundreds of homeless people to access their TICA status, Leone found that 70% were unaware they were listed on this database.

As of 20 December, tenancy database services will come under federal privacy legislation, giving tenants the right to correct information held about them. While this is an improvement on the current situation, it will not go far enough. Tenants will still incur a cost to access their files and the criteria for inclusion will not be restricted to a proven breach or default. Within this context, the research on the nexus between TICA and homelessness in the Tweed Valley area has the potential to provide evidenced based data to support increased regulation of tenancy blacklists.

"The private rental market is characterized both by a high degree of housing stress for consumers and by endemic market failures which reinforce the powerless of disadvantaged people (Johnson, p 67)." In this context the operation of tenancy database services only exacerbates this disadvantage and undermines the consumer rights of tenants.

This article was originaly published in NCOSS News (December 2002) - the NCOSS newsletter for NCOSS members. You can subscribe to NCOSS News by becoming a member [membership info]

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