OP here - Estate agent asked for 6 months bank statements, which I assume was requested by the referencing agency.

I don't think is common practise in the U.K, but I asked around and lots of people told me it is more common that the larger agencies ask for it, plus it was for an apartment in a very competitive development so I feel like it might have been a forcing function to reduce the amount of applicants but that is speculation on my part.

I was asked for 12 months' worth of statements for a place I wanted to rent in Islington. I got them printed out at the bank, and then spent an entire day with a Sharpie and a ruler and redacted every payee and amount in each of those statements. The approved my rental contract without a peep.

A potential employer once also wanted statements - I think 6 months' worth, and I did the same. HR pushed back but legal backed them down rather quickly. I think these people ask because most just comply without question.

What information did you effectively leave that they theoretically wanted to see? Simply activity on the account, or did you leave incoming pay unredacted?

I left dates. They never told me what they wanted to see, other than "bank statements".

"Estate agent asked for 6 months bank statements, "

WTF.

That's a crazy practice. Paystub maybe, but bank statements? My gosh.

I've been looking for a new apartment in NYC and the place I applied for wanted 2 month's of paystubs and 2 month's of bank statements. Most agencies I've seen request this or more. It's insane but if you find a place you like things sell so quickly here that you have no choice but to play by their rules or leave the city.

Unrelated rant but the reason I've been looking is my current landlord has taken over 35 days to send me a renewal contract. Go figure that 10 minutes after texting him I'm going through the credit check for a new apartment he sends me the updated document.

NY places limits on landlords such as: cannot consider or even look at past evictions, cannot ask for more than a month deposit, and others. Also they completely left landlords out in the cold for rent for over a year and counting. NY is extremely tenant friendly and it can cost a lot if you get a bad tenant. Year(s) of unpaid rent, legal fees, and money for repairs.

Hey I don't make the rules - but if I don't play by them I lose a place I really wanted to live in. Sucks, but that's life.

I don't know where in the world you are - but the American solution to this problem are a series of organizations that constantly ingest a massive amount of financial data around what transactions you're executing and then sell it to the lender without your knowledge. I'd be happy to be the person actually handing over so much of my financial data instead of it being harvested without my consent.

I was renting about 5 years ago and even back then the agency asked me for about 6-12months of bank statements checking the payment dates and probably checking if I could afford it

Why not ask the bank to confirm that you make enough, without revealing how much you make and your whole spending history?

In competitive rental markets, there will always be another tenant who will not be "difficult" in the eyes of the agent who will snatch the place up from you if you start going off the beaten path.

Before I got my place there were 3 other apartments in the same complex I verbally agreed to and then agent called back to say it had been taken. Not sure if you've rented in likes of London, NY or SF before but the competition can be intense.

Look it sucks that I had to do that, in an ideal world we could have done what you said, but I valued getting the place over my reservations of handing over bank statements.

So often this is the case. Someone asks something unreasonable, and pushing back gets you marked as difficult. It acts as a filter, even if done unintentionally

Because nobody wants to rent to a difficult tenant.

Credit agencies can 100% know when you pay you rent as the receiver can send this information to them. Credit cards also say when you pay so they can keep track of when you're delinquent or late for payments.

Credit agencies - at least in the US - really don't know when you pay the rent, though, unless the landlord reports this. Same for payments: This is a big part of the reason you cannot simply live within your means [1] and have good credit later in life.

You won't.

Many companies - utilities, landlords, hospitals, and so on - simply won't report anything unless it is negative. The negatives are usually sending something to in-house collections, a collection agency, or filing a civil suit to get the money.

Loans, in general, will report. This includes credit cards. Some of the buy here/pay here places won't report, though, so you get no help on your credit.

[1] What I mean by "live within your means" is to simply do things like pay cash for a used car, rent an affordable place, and simply pay your bills on time.

I think the person you are replying to is surprised that a landlord would bother reporting that information to a credit agency. I have never heard of that, and after using some of the bigger name property management companies in my area as both a renter and landlord, it just isn't normal here.

I wonder if they have access to your balances via Plaid, which seems to be popping up all over the dang place. I should look more closely at their terms of service.