Identify bad paying tenants! This is the objective of the future national file on which the National Real Estate Federation (FNAIM) is working. Called Arthel, this payment incident file should be released on January 1, 2021 in the wake of the entry into force of the future Nogal law, named after LREM deputy from Haute-Garonne Mickaël Nogal. Aiming to "restore confidence between owners and tenants", his bill is to be examined in May by the Parliament.
"This text transfers the risk of non-payment of rent to professionals," explains FNAIM president Jean-Marc Torrollion. This means that it is our responsibility to guarantee the payment of each rent to the landlord and tenant on time. To do this, either we decide to be hyper selective with regard to the tenants whom we choose at the risk of excluding some, or we remain open and create a file of payment incidents to protect us, "launches the president of FNAIM.
"Above all a deterrent"
FNAIM has been advocating for the second solution for more than ten years and the creation of such a national file. In vain until now. "It is above all a dissuasive instrument, allowing us to reduce the risk of non-payment by encouraging tenants not to be listed," summarizes the professional who promises safeguards.
"This database - including the contact details of the debtor, the amount of the debt and its duration - will only be accessible to holders of a professional card, that is to say to property administrators and real estate agencies, as well as to insurers ”, indicates the president of FNAIM, like the files which already exist in the banking, insurance and telephony sector.
Listed from three months late
The file will identify the bad payers "from three months' rent delay until their debt is settled," he said. As soon as the payments are regularized, their data will be removed from the file. Otherwise, they will be kept for a maximum of three years, the equivalent of the duration of a lease. As for the management of the file, the FNAIM says it is ready to open it to consumer associations and assures that it has obtained a green light in principle from the National Data Protection Commission (Cnil) and an agreement of compatibility with the rules for the protection of data (GDPR) at the end of December 2018.
The Cnil prudent
When questioned, the Cnil was more cautious. "The Commission was not specifically aware of the FNAIM project," she said. If this project were indeed envisaged, it should be framed with very strong guarantees for the people concerned, ”she underlines. She is not the only one to distance herself. MP Mickaël Nogal calls for "vigilance". "We must not create stigma, oppose tenants and owners, he insists, recalling that only 2% of rentals are victims of unpaid bills. This file must be framed so as not to block access to housing ”.
A point of view shared by the Individual group to the individual. "Beware of possible drifts, warns the president of PAP Corinne Jolly. You have to be able to check this file and check that it is regularly updated so that the tenant who has paid off his debt is correctly unsubscribed, ”she concluded, without objecting to its principle. The group itself is the holder of a file listing scammers of real estate classified ads.
