Agencies are NOT supposed to profit from credit checks on renters – TPN

Pippa Hudson speaks with Wendy Knowler, Consumer Journalist

Listen below.

A credit check is a standard part of vetting potential tenants.

This is usually done at the tenant’s expense before their application is approved.

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It is one thing to pay for a credit check and be rejected, but one woman found her credit check was not done even though she paid for it.

After discovering that the credit check was never completed, she requested a refund. It was only then that an agent asked for her banking details.

This was nine days after she had paid.

She questioned how many people had lost money to credit checks that were not carried out, adding that the charges for credit checks were inconsistent.

“One agent wanted R400 for a credit check, another wanted R200.”

- Wendy Knowler, Consumer Journalist

Knowler reached out to the TPN Credit Bureau to find out what policy was in place.  The bureau says it 'does not support using credit checks to generate revenue' and will suspend accounts that abuse the system.

Agencies can charge a reasonable service fee on top of the cost of the actual credit check.

The agency explained that the incident occurred due to a high volume of end-of-month administrative tasks and assured her that it was not an attempt to take money unfairly.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.