Privacy Policy - EPI Lettings Ltd.

Our contact details

Name: EPI Lettings Limited

Address: Blades Enterprise Centre, 107-111 John Street, Sheffield, S2 4QX

Phone Number: 0114 3610118

E-mail: lettings@epilettings.com

We currently collect and process the following information:

Information you give us

This is information about you that you give us by filling in forms on our website or by corresponding with us by phone, e-mail or otherwise. This includes information you provide when you subscribe to our services, search our site, participate in social media functions, enter a competition, promotion or survey and when you report a problem with our site. Depending on the type of service or product, the following are examples of information we may collect directly from you:

Your name, postal address, phone number, email address and details of your requirements – To provide you with lettings services to find a property to rent
Your marital status, date of birth, nationality and tax status – When you enter into a residential sale or letting agreement
Your date of birth, nationality, and details from identity documents you provide – To perform identity checks, anti-money laundering and right to rent checks, as required by law
Proof that you have sufficient funds or supporting funds to rent a property – To ensure you are able to pay the required amount of deposit and rents
Your bank account details – To take payment for the services we provide to you
Evidence that you have the right to let a property – Where you are a landlord and instruct us to assist you with letting a property in Scotland
Details of any mortgage or insurance, licensing documentation and service contracts which you have in place in relation to a property you wish to let – Where you are a landlord and we are providing you with letting services
Your marital status, employment details, national insurance number, nationality, residential status, bank details and credit history – To carry out referencing and credit checks and the results of those checks
Details relating to your property including photographs, floor plans, energy performance certificate ratings/ home reports, property description and survey results – To deliver our service to you when you engage us to market a property for you
Photographs of your property, an inspection report and inventory , to record the condition of your property at the start or end of a tenancy – To deliver our service to you when you engage us to let a property on your behalf
Move in and move out dates, utility meter serial number and meter readings before a tenant moves into a property and when the tenant moves out – To deliver our service to you when you engage us to let a property on your behalf
Your move in and move out date and details of the deposit paid where you are a tenant when registering or releasing any deposit from a deposit protection scheme – To deliver our service to you when you engage us to let a property on your behalf

Information we collect about you

Each time you visit our site, we may automatically collect the following information:

technical information, including the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet; and
information about your visit, including the full Uniform Resource Locators (URL) clickstream to, through and from our sites (including date and time); information you viewed or searched for; page response times, download errors, length of visits to pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), and methods used to browse away from the page.

Information we receive from other sources

We may receive information about you if you use any of the other websites we operate or the other services we provide. We are also working closely with third parties (including, for example, business partners, sub-contractors in technical, payment services, advertising networks, analytics providers, search information providers, credit reference agencies) and may receive information about you from them.

Information we obtain from online portals

Where you contact by providing your details through online portals such as Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket, we will use the details contact you to provide the services you have requested.

Information we obtain from third parties

Where we are required by law, or for business needs, we will obtain information about you from third parties, but only with your consent to do so. For example (but not limited to) the third parties we may need to contact our credit reference agencies, banks, employers, accountants, solicitors, previous landlords, in order to obtain references, undertake identity verification and basic criminal record checks, and validate your income level and financial history.

How we use your information

We will process the information you provide, or we obtain from other sources to provide you with products and services and answer any questions you may have.

The following are examples of how we use the information we collect:

To process your registration and confirm your identity
To provide you with the estate agency services which you have asked us to provide, including but not limited to:
- helping you to sell your property
- finding a property to purchase
- arranging and carrying out accompanied viewings
- valuing your property
To provide a full lettings service for tenants, prospective tenants and landlords
To provide property management services
To arrange a survey and valuations
To provide advice on financial products and services, such as mortgages, insurance and protection products
To keep you informed of any developments in relation to any mortgage product, protection product or insurance product which we help you to take out;
To provide conveyancing services
To provide property auction services
To process payment for our services
To protect against and prevent fraud, unauthorised transactions, money laundering, tax evasion, claims, other liabilities and manage risk exposure and agent or franchise quality, integrity, compliance and security of business processes
To provide, administer and communicate with you about EPI Lettings Limited services, offers, programs and promotions, their issuers, acquirers, retailers and partners
To protect a tenant’s deposit by registering it with a deposit protection scheme
To process the receipt and payment of rent, maintenance and tax for you if a property is being let
To arrange an energy performance certificate or home report inspection for you
To arrange an inventory check or to prepare a report on the condition of a property if it is being let
To ensure that utilities are in place and that utility company and local authorities are able to contact you for billing purposes when you move into a property
To carry out tenant referencing and credit checks to assess if you are creditworthy before you move into a property. To carry out such checks, your personal information may be shared with credit referencing companies
To compile business directories, including business contact information and maintain up to date client records
To operate, monitor, evaluate and improve our products, services and websites
To evaluate your interest in and suitability for employment

Information about our products and services

We may also use your personal data to contact you by post, email, telephone or other electronic means to provide you with information about products and services from EPI Lettings Limited and carefully selected third parties which we feel may be of interest or relevant to your needs.

Credit scoring

Some of the services provided by third parties may involve an automated decision and/or credit scoring to determine whether we are able to provide a service or product.

Using third parties to undertake searches and collate information on our behalf helps make fair and responsible decisions. When coming to these decisions we and third parties will consider:

the information provided on the application form
information about previous account conduct, including any payment arrears and
official public records information such as fraud record information and insolvency records

Any credit scoring methods used by third parties are regularly tested to ensure they remain fair, effective and unbiased.

Who we share your information with

We may share your information with relevant third-party business partners, both for the purposes set out in this Privacy Notice or for other purposes approved by you.

Third Party service providers

Where we engage third-party service providers to provide products (such as mortgages, house and contents, and family protection insurances and utility services) or other business services and operations, we provide them with only the personal information they need to perform the service or provide the product we request. We contractually require them to securely protect the information, and not to use it for any other purpose.

Indicatively – but not limited to – we may disclose your information to the third parties listed below for the purposes listed:

Approved contractors – To install for sale or to let boards, to appoint managing agents and building maintenance contractors, to arrange EPC visits, to arrange for contractors to providing safety & statutory tests and to take inventories
Surveyors – To undertake a structural or Homebuyers survey
Firms on our conveyancing panel – To provide home conveyancing services
Our panels of mortgage lenders – To progress your enquiry or application for a residential or buy to let mortgage application
Rent and Legal insurance providers – To set up landlord insurances, and in the event of a claim
Solicitors – To pursue a claim for breach of tenancy
Referencing Companies – To check your creditworthiness, obtain tenant references and to help prevent fraud and money laundering
The Local Council – Payment/collection of Council Tax
Law enforcement bodies including the police, HMRC and local authorities – To comply with court orders or legal obligations
Landlord, tenant, or Guarantor – To comply with our legal obligations where we are providing a lettings service
Tenant Shop Services Limited – For utility management, hybrid void solution, media and insurance products and services
The parties whose property you have viewed or on whose property you have submitted an offer – For the purposes of ascertaining in a potential fee payable for introduced parties (title, first initial, surname) or for other reasons relating to your viewing or offer on a property
Utility Companies – For payment of utility bills
Debt collection companies – To assist us in recovering any monies which are owed and overdue
Deposit Protection Scheme providers – To provide a Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme
PRS, a professional body responsible for raising professional standards amongst letting agents – If information relating to you is requested by them in order to protect your interests
Land Registry Office – If information relating to you is requested by them in order to protect your interests
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – If information relating to you is requested by them in order to protect your interests
Other estate agents and parties involved in the sale or purchase of your property – To support the progression of the sales chain

How long we keep your information for

We will keep your information for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, and to fulfil our legal and regulatory obligations.

In certain circumstances we have a statutory obligation to keep your personal information for a set period of time, for example, financial information (normally 7 years) for financial auditing purposes. Information is always retained in line with its purpose of processing and only for as long as necessary usually, information is kept for 7 years after last contact with you. However, this period may be extended dependent upon any legal or contractual obligations EPI Lettings Limited may be required to comply with, as well as any overriding business legitimate interests.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.

Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.

Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.

Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.

Your right to object to processing – You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.

Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

Please contact us at lettings@epilettings.com, phone 0114 3610118 if you wish to make a request.

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to our Lettings Manager Julie Matthewman at jmatthewman@epilettings.com or 0114 3610118. Our complaints procedure is set out at https://epilettings.com/making-a-lettings-complaint/.

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

The ICO’s address:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk

CHANGES

EPI Lettings Limited reserves the right to modify this statement at any time. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will be listed in this section, and if such changes are material, a notice will be included on the homepage of the web site for a period of time. If you have any questions about privacy at any websites operated by EPI Lettings Limited or about our website practices, please contact us at: info@elitepropertyinvestment.com