PHOTO: Photo: 123rf
Hundreds of property managers across the country are signed up to a private social media page where landlords blacklist tenants despite the claims of bad behaviour being unverified and some posts potentially breaching privacy rights.
The Facebook page ‘Bad Tenants’ has come under fire for landlords posting the identities, passport details and photographs of tenants to its more than 3400 followers.
Property managers from throughout the country and at every level within the industry are looking at the social media posts.
The allegations are unverified and tenants do not have a right of response.
Renters United spokesperson Robert Whitaker said this is deeply worrying.
“Property managers are shortlisting by any mechanism they can. If they have to choose between 20 people, if the name’s familiar because they have been seen in this group, they are going to be struck off.”
He said that while a property manager may not be consciously using the list, it could create unconscious bias.
Too often, people were discriminated against because of their ethnicity, name, a disability or their appearance, he said.
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