https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/comments/1j81fsx/landlord_asking_for_personal_info/
created by 0x4652 on 10/03/2025 at 15:36 UTC
11 upvotes, 14 top-level comments (showing 14)
Hi! I'm moving to Flanders soon and looking for apartments to rent. I've noticed some landlords ask for documents I find quite personal, like my last three paychecks, even before I book an appointment to actually see the apartment. Is this common practice here? What kind of questions or documents should I typically expect to provide? Any advice would be appreciated!
Comment by octave1 at 10/03/2025 at 15:56 UTC
52 upvotes, 0 direct replies
You're not going to gain anything by not providing these documents. Landlords will pick whoever has the best profile. You have no profile if you don't play along. This is game theory.
Comment by atrocious_cleva82 at 10/03/2025 at 15:43 UTC*
16 upvotes, 0 direct replies
What is allowed
As a landlord you may only request information from the candidate tenant that is necessary for the rental. It is about information about:
identity
residence
income
What is not allowed
Requesting information about the place of birth is not allowed. As far as income is concerned, as a landlord you can only go to the level of income ask, not by nature (income obtained as a salaried or self-employed person) and not to the source (a benefit as a replacement income). To know the amount of the income, you can use documents such as pay slips, account statements or a tax assessment note questions to the candidate tenant. Requesting documents that gauge the tenant's state of health or judicial past is not allowed.
https://www.notaris.be/nieuws-pers/detail/wat-mag-je-wel-of-niet-vragen-aan-een-kandidaat-huurder[1][2]
1: https://www.notaris.be/nieuws-pers/detail/wat-mag-je-wel-of-niet-vragen-aan-een-kandidaat-huurder
2: https://www.notaris.be/nieuws-pers/detail/wat-mag-je-wel-of-niet-vragen-aan-een-kandidaat-huurder
Comment by patternpatternp at 10/03/2025 at 15:43 UTC
11 upvotes, 0 direct replies
paychecks before viewing is a bit weird... But yeah if you're applying for apartments, you have to prove that you can pay for it by showing them your paychecks... Also some form of ID/pasport number..
As for questions: where do you work, do you have kids or pets, how many people will be living in the apartment... Some landlords ask a lot of questions to ensure you will pay your rent and not destroy their property
Comment by nipikas at 10/03/2025 at 16:03 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Nowadays, they usually have so many candidates for each appartement that they probably want to be sure ppl who come for a viewing, can afford it and not waste their time.
Comment by Murmurmira at 10/03/2025 at 15:43 UTC
22 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Yes, it's normal and feels invasive, but if you don't play along they will just choose any of the other 20 candidates
Comment by Salty_Dugtrio at 10/03/2025 at 15:42 UTC
25 upvotes, 2 direct replies
like my last three paychecks, even before I book an appointment to actually see the apartment. Is this common practice here?
Yes, you always have to do this.
Comment by Donuteria at 10/03/2025 at 16:46 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It's not usual to ask for proof of paychecks before you've even seen the place, but maybe they get so many applicants that they try to 'weed out' those without a reliable income.
Eventually you'll have to provide some proof of income, so if you do end up sending your paychecks, I advise hiding some info that's on it. Your name is obviously required to be on there, so they know it's your paycheck, but I'd hide the company name, your current address, bank account number, stuff like that. But that's just me, because I don't think they have a right to know that much.
Comment by varkenspester at 10/03/2025 at 15:43 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
you need to prove to them you can aford the place. getting a bad renter out is very hard in belgium so they want to be very sure you can aford it before considering renting their property to you.
Comment by Vast_Bookkeeper_5991 at 10/03/2025 at 16:56 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
You are not obligated to provide anything, unfortunately them asking isnt illegal either. It has become pretty standard that they ask these things, and lately also common that they ask this beforehand.
Comment by Aquilax420 at 10/03/2025 at 18:07 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Paychecks are quite normal once you actually apply to rent an apartment. I think that landlords are getting a huge amount of viewing requests at the moment and want to limit it in some way. If they limit it purely based on first come, first served and half of the people that can view the place can't pay for it, they might see that as time wasted.
Keep in mind that you can black out some of the information if you want. Or that you can provide them with the bank statements of your last three paychecks. If you want you can for example remove your IBAN so it's just your name, your employer's name and the amounts
Comment by annekecaramin at 10/03/2025 at 18:35 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It's normal to ask this, and as some others have pointed out the rental market is kind of crazy right now so they might ask before to weed out viewers they don't want to rent to anyway.
You are not required to provide this info but it will be super hard to find a place if you don't.
I have been in a situation where I had only just started working again after a few months of unemployment, and my partner was a freelancer so he didn't have payslips. We just sent them proof of our last three payments for our old apartment and it was fine.
Comment by LilMissBarbie at 10/03/2025 at 17:07 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I once had a landlord asking to go to my job and my previous job to see how I was.
Then he wanted an inspection of my current home and talk to my current landlord, and if possible former landlord, how's my relationship with family and who I'm married too.
Huge 🚩 🚩 🚩 🚩 🚩 🚩
Comment by D3athShade at 10/03/2025 at 18:05 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Pretty normal he asks for your paychecks. He wants to make sure you can afford the place.
Comment by [deleted] at 10/03/2025 at 15:58 UTC
-7 upvotes, 2 direct replies
[deleted]