Landlord asking for IBAN

Keimps

Hi,

I'm in the process of renting a house. I have paid a deposit already and provided the landlord (letting agency in this case) a reference from work, a copy of my passport, my pps number, and a utility bill. He also asked for a bank statement, which is something I do not feel comfortable with. I provided him with screenshot of my online banking and a print out from the ATM machine, showing I have more than enough funds available to pay rent every month.

He came back to me today requesting the full IBAN number. I feel very uncomfortable with this. Maybe I'm being paranoid (I like to see it as careful). But I have already provided him with a copy of my passport and PPS number and some bank account information. Why would he need the full IBAN number? If I give him that, he can possibly do harm. Besides this, why would he want this and what can he do with this? I saw on his linked profile he used to work as a bank manager, so maybe he still has some connections.

Anyway, what shall I do? I obviously want the house a lot, but I already feel scared having paid the deposit already without having the keys to the house.

Thanks.

Yakuza

Your IBAN is essentially the old sort code and bank account stuck together with a bank identifier at the start, so if you've ever given someone a cheque, you've given them the same information.  I'm guessing he'll need it at some point to repay you your deposit?

Dee5

Yakuza wrote: »

Your IBAN is essentially the old sort code and bank account stuck together with a bank identifier at the start, so if you've ever given someone a cheque, you've given them the same information.  I'm guessing he'll need it at some point to repay you your deposit?

Also he'll need it to set up your direct debit/standing order for the rent to be paid.

Dee5

Yakuza wrote: »

Your IBAN is essentially the old sort code and bank account stuck together with a bank identifier at the start, so if you've ever given someone a cheque, you've given them the same information.  I'm guessing he'll need it at some point to repay you your deposit?

Also he'll need it to set up your direct debit/standing order for the rent to be paid.

FishOnABike

The other way around. OP would need the landlord's IBAN to set up a standing order to pay the rent into the landlord's bank account at a set interval, e.g.monthly. Standing order would be more suitable as the interval and amount is fixed. Direct debit is more suited to amounts which are variable e.g.utility bills.

Bank of Ireland: Evie

Keimps wrote: »

Hi,

I'm in the process of renting a house. I have paid a deposit already and provided the landlord (letting agency in this case) a reference from work, a copy of my passport, my pps number, and a utility bill. He also asked for a bank statement, which is something I do not feel comfortable with. I provided him with screenshot of my online banking and a print out from the ATM machine, showing I have more than enough funds available to pay rent every month.

He came back to me today requesting the full IBAN number. I feel very uncomfortable with this. Maybe I'm being paranoid (I like to see it as careful). But I have already provided him with a copy of my passport and PPS number and some bank account information. Why would he need the full IBAN number? If I give him that, he can possibly do harm. Besides this, why would he want this and what can he do with this? I saw on his linked profile he used to work as a bank manager, so maybe he still has some connections.

Anyway, what shall I do? I obviously want the house a lot, but I already feel scared having paid the deposit already without having the keys to the house.

Thanks.

Good Afternoon, 

Thanks for contacting us here on Boards.ie, as mentioned below your IBAN is your account number and sort code along with the Bank Identifier. When you give someone a cheque you are essentially giving them your account number and sort code. They can then get your IBAN by entering it into an IBAN calculator, like this one here provided by the Bank Of Ireland. 

As also mentioned above, if you are paying the landlord by transfer or standing order, he will need to provide you with his details. He could not set up a direct debit from a personal account, direct debits are used by companies to withdraw money from their customers accounts upon authorisation by their customers.

We could not advise the security of this landlord obviously, but giving an IBAN alone does not give automatic authorisation to a third party to take money from your account. If you are genuinely concerned about the validity of this property then we would advise to take extra caution. 

Thanks,
Evie