Privacy Policy

1.Introduction

This Privacy Policy is written by Fit Property Lettings and Management Limited (Fit Property) and is designed to show how we use your data following the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulations.

As one of our customers (Landlord, tenant, prospective tenant or guarantor) or someone else with whom we do business, or an employee or applicant for employment you understand and agree that we collect, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy (this “Policy”).

We use your personal information so that we may fulfil our commitment to providing letting and management services of property to you and other services which you may use.  In addition we provide employee details to HMRC and our external Accountants/payroll service and any other organisations that we may choose to offer benefits to our staff.  As part of that undertaking, we are committed to safeguarding the privacy of the personal information that we gather.

2. The application of this policy

This policy applies to personal information regarding tenants, Landlords, Employees and other individuals and businesses with whom we do business and to the use of that personal information in any form – whether oral, electronic or written.

Some of your information will be collected using third party cloud based platforms designed for that purpose, to increase our business efficiency and to improve delivery of service to you.  Where this is the case we ensure that the providers are also compliant with the General Data Processing Regulations.

3. Types of personal information we collect, process or hold

The term “personal information” in this policy refers to information that does or is capable of identifying you as an individual. The types of personal information that we process (which may vary by jurisdiction based on applicable law) include, depending upon it’s purpose:

  • your name, marital status, gender, personal and work contact details, date and place of birth, image/photos, nationality, passport details, visa, home address, employment status, NI number, previous employers, email address, bank details, next of kin, 
  • your debit/credit card details, and your account details such as customer reference number or customer ID and credentials 
  • information, feedback provided in respect of the property leased/owned or comments regarding our services to you.
  • information collected whilst you access our website.  Currently this simply includes any information that you provide in our contact section when you request that we get in touch with you.

Much of the personal information we process is information that you or someone acting on your behalf knowingly provides to us.  For instance, in cases where a tenant requires a guarantor we will take details of the proposed guarantor from the applicant.

4.  Lawful basis of processing

Fit Property processes your information on the following basis

Performance of a contract – where you enter into a contract with Fit Property and we are required to process your information as part of that contract.  For instance, in creating a tenancy agreement or preparing Landlord statements.

Legal Obligation – some details will be passed to various government or local government bodies as part of our obligations as a business operating in the property sector.  Subjects covered would include Council tax, Non UK resident Landlord scheme and HMRC for our employee payments.

Legitimate Interest – Where we have a relevant and appropriate relationship.  Should you make an enquiry about finding a property with us we will endevour to find a suitable home until a conclusion is reached.  If you decide not to proceed with us then simply telephone 0114 2725773 to let us know.   we would also communicate during a tenancy with tenants and Landlords to provide information.  Included in this category would be end of tenancy instructions to existing tenants and property feedback to Landlords. 

Consent – We may ask for your consent to contact you at a later stage about other opportunities should we not find a property following your initial enquiry.  If your consent is given you have the right to withdraw this consent at any time.

5. How we use personal information

Subject to applicable laws, we may collect, use and disclose relevant portions of your personal information in order to:

Contact you about potential properties/services that may be of interest to you.

provide and charge for products and related services;

provide you with a better or more personalized level of product, service, and/or experience including information and services from a third party .

respond to requests for information and services, including services from a third party (such as companies who provide utility services like gas/electricity, broadband, water and tv services or contractors who carry out work/services to the property) 

advise you of events/competitions throughout your tenancy

fulfil contractual obligations to you, anyone involved in the process of making your access to services the best possible;

provide for the safety and security of staff, or other customers;

administer general record keeping;

meet legal and regulatory requirements;

We may share your information with credit reference and debt collection agencies for use in making decisions relating to granting a tenancy, preventing fraud or chasing debtors.

Fit Property uses and retains your personal information for as long as is necessary to fulfil its purpose.  Usually this would not exceed a period of 7 years at which time it is deleted from our systems or (if paper based) is destroyed by a reputable document shredding business.Our paper based information is held securely at our office at 144 Charles Street, Sheffield S1 2NE.  Electronic information is password protected and we have Firewall security in place.

6. Disclosures of your personal information

From time to time, we may disclose your personal information. We would always make that disclosure in agreement with applicable law. In some jurisdictions, data privacy laws may require us to obtain your consent before we transfer your information from your originating country to other countries. When you agree to this policy, you are, to the extent required and permitted under your local law, granting your consent to the transfer of your personal information to such other countries for the Purpose and to the extent stated in this section and as described in Section 4 above.

Circumstances where we might make such disclosure and to whom (in addition to those described in Section 4 above) include:

6.1 Our agents, service providers and suppliers

Like most Letting Agents, we may outsource the processing of certain functions and/or information to third parties. When we do outsource the processing of your personal information to third parties or provide your personal information to third-party service providers, we oblige those third parties to protect your personal information in accordance with the terms and conditions of this policy, with appropriate security measures.  All such Contractors should also be compliant under the General Data Protection Regulations.

We currently use the following third parties who may have access to, process or hold on our behalf personal information.

Experien – credit search enquiries (see http://www.experian.co.uk/crain/index.html)

Van Mildert – credit search enquiries

Highlander – IT support and maintenance

Zoopla Property Group – Jupix property software

Goodlord – new tenancy process

Docusign – Digital signature documentation

Campaign Monitor – large scale information by email

Walters Hawson Limited – Payroll services

Vitality Health – staff healthcare

World pay – card processing services

Endsleigh Insurance - Student Insurance Provider

Split the Bills – utility bill sharing services

6.2 our professional advisors

This would include our Accountants and Legal advisors.

6.3 Legal requirements

We reserve the right to disclose any personal information we have concerning you if we are compelled to do so by a court of law or lawfully requested to do so by a governmental entity or if we determine it is necessary or desirable to comply with the law or to protect or defend our rights or property in accordance with applicable laws. We also reserve the right to retain personal information collected and to process such personal information to comply with accounting and tax rules and regulations and any specific record retention laws.

6.4 Business transfers

As we continue to develop our business, we may sell Fit Property assets, or cease being the manager or owner of the service that is currently part of our portfolio. In those circumstances, we may include the personal information collected about you, or control of that personal information, as a business asset in any such transfer. Also, in the unlikely event that we, or substantially all of our assets, are acquired, personal information collected about you, or control of such information, may be one of the transferred assets.

6.5 Exchange of information 

It will be necessary to exchange some Landlord details with tenants and vice versa in order to comply with the contract.  This would allow contact to be made where appropriate without reference to Fit Property (for instance where Fit Property are supplying a Let Only service to the Landlord).

7.  Information we collect when you visit us online

If you access any Fit Property website, you may wish to know the following:

You can browse without revealing who you are

You can always visit our website without logging in or otherwise revealing who you are.

You can request that we make contact with you through our website to register your interest in letting or managing a property or any other matter and once this is received by us we will attempt to contact you by return email, telephone or text.  We will treat your request as consent to make contact with you but you may withdraw such consent at any time by email to [email protected]. 

The personal information we collect from you online is stored by us and/or our service providers on databases protected through a combination of physical and electronic access controls, firewall technology and other reasonable security measures. Nevertheless, such security measures cannot prevent all loss, misuse or alteration of personal information and we are not responsible for any damages or liabilities relating to any such incidents to the fullest extent permitted by law. Where required under law, we will notify you of any such loss, misuse or alteration of personal information that may affect you so that you can take the appropriate actions for the due protection of your rights.

7.1 Minor children

Our website does not sell or promote services for purchase by children and we do not knowingly solicit or collect personal information from children. If you are under the age of 18 (or a minor in the jurisdiction in which you are accessing our websites), you may only use our website with the involvement of a parent or guardian.

8 Apps

Landlords and Tenants are able to take advantage of an app which will provide access to information about your account with us.  The App will be available for you to report or receive information about property/financial matters.  The information we receive/send will be used solely in order to deal with our Contractual obligations.  The application is provided and supported by a third party company.

9. Updating or Accessing Your Personal Information

With some limited exceptions, you have rights to access and update personal information held about you. If you want to inquire about any personal information we may have about you, you can do so by sending us a written request by letter or email to the addresses set out below. Please be sure to include your full name, address, and/or email address and phone number so we can ascertain your identity and whether we have any personal information regarding you, or in case we need to contact you to obtain any additional information we may require to make that determination.

You may request that we correct, cancel, and/or stop processing or using personal information that we hold about you. If we agree that the personal information is incorrect, or that the processing should be stopped, we will delete or correct the personal information. If we do not agree that the personal information is incorrect we will tell you that we do not agree, explain our refusal to you and record the fact that you consider that personal information to be incorrect in the relevant file(s).

10 Request for access to personal information/questions or complaints

According to applicable law, you have a right of access to a copy of the information comprised in your personal data; a right to object to processing that is likely to cause or is causing damage or distress;

A right to prevent processing for direct marketing; a right to object to decisions being taken by automated means; a right in certain circumstances to have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed; and a right to claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the Data Protection Act.

If you have any questions about this Policy, about the processing of your data described, or any concerns or complaints with regard to the administration of the Policy, or if you would like to submit a request (in the manner described in Section 9 above) for access to or deletion of the personal information that we maintain about you, please contact us by any of the following means:

  • by phoning us on 0114 272 5773
  • by mail at Fit Property, 144 Charles Street, Sheffield, S1 2NE 
  • by email to [email protected]

If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, you can escalate your concern to the Office Manager by mail at Fit Property, 144 Charles Street, Sheffield, S1 2NE

Please note that if requests are found to be unfounded or excessive, we reserve the right to charge a fee, if permitted under applicable law, which is usually around £20 for processing, or refuse to respond. Where we refuse to respond to a request, we will explain why to you, informing you of your right to complain to the supervisory authority and to a judicial remedy without undue delay and at the latest within one month.

The purpose of the fee is to cover administrative costs. Where you make more than one request in quick succession, we may respond to your subsequent request by referring to our earlier response and only identifying any items that have changed materially.

You may request that we correct, cancel, and/or stop processing or using personal information that we hold about you. If we agree that the personal information is incorrect, or that the processing should be stopped, we will delete or correct the personal information. If we do not agree that the personal information is incorrect we will tell you that we do not agree, explain our refusal to you and record the fact that you consider that personal information to be incorrect in the relevant file(s).

All requests for access to your personal information must be submitted in writing by letter to Office Manager by mail at Fit Property, 144 Charles Street, Sheffield, S1 2NE.  We may respond to your request by letter, email, telephone or any other suitable method.

11 Changes to this policy

Just as our business changes constantly, this policy may also change. To assist you, this Policy has an effective date set out at the end of this document.

Effective date: May 16, 2018