Right or Wrong - Our Q&A column, July 2008

RIGHT OR WRONG BY BRYDEN GAGE

I am really, really excited about the possibility of doing business with a company in Quebec that is involved with acquisitions and mergers. They are looking to buy shares from people such as myself and their website looks really professional and reliable. Would you recommend that I go ahead?

Enthusiastic Investor

Dear Overly Enthused,

Wrong! Unfortunately, we don’t give investment recommendations but we would almost certainly encourage you to do more research on the company before getting so enthusiastic. To jump in without doing a serious background check could cost you significantly. The legitimacy of a company should never be measured by their website alone, as many people have the skills to design a professional looking website today. To get a BBB Reliability Report on a company outside of our service area, go to www.bbb.org. If there is no listing, it simply means that the company has not been brought to the attention of the BBB and no complaints have been processed. You may also want to contact the Quebec Securities Commission at 1-877-525-0337 to see if they have any information, or to see if they could direct you to other sources. Seeing what information comes up in a search engine such as Google is never a bad idea either. To summarize, we hear of far too many heartbreaking stories of people who have invested their life savings with unsavory individuals. To avoid being the victim of a scam always do your due diligence before parting with your money.

Bryden

Dear Bryden,

I recently applied for an apartment to rent in Victoria. Other applicants were coming to be interviewed and view the place after me. The owners were a couple and they were doing the interviews personally. They wanted my Social Insurance Number as well as a $ 20 fee to check my credit rating. No doubt all the other applicants in line were being asked to do the same. I was hesitant to give them my SIN, but felt if I did not give them the money, I would lose out on this vacancy. In the end, I gave them the money and my SIN number and my application was accepted next day, but I can’t help but feel this was illegal and a money grab. It is, isn’t it?

Riled Renter

Dear Renter,

You’re Right and Wrong in this case. According to the Residential Tenancy office, the Residential Tenancy Act does not prohibit a landlord from asking for a SIN or doing a credit check. The landlord should make sure that he/she has accepted the most suitable person for the rental premises and so doing a reference check and or a credit check may be viewed as a “good business practice”. In the end, the landlord has the right to protect his/her business against so called “bad tenants”. On the other hand, the potential tenant is not obligated to provide information to the landlord that he/she is not comfortable providing. With regard to Application and processing fees, landlords are prohibited from charging a person anything for: