Tenant assessment and dispute policy

1. Verified rental relationship required

An assessment may be submitted only by an authorised landlord connected to a genuine lease or rental relationship recorded or reasonably verified through RentSignal. Assessments about applicants who never became tenants, hearsay from another person, or unrelated personal conduct are prohibited.

2. Structured observations, not character judgments

RentSignal limits landlord assessments to structured tenancy categories such as payment reliability, property care, cleanliness, noise, communication, maintenance reporting, access for repairs, lease-rule observance, occupants or subletting, and pets, smoking or odours. Labels must describe observed tenancy performance rather than a person's worth, personality, protected characteristics or assumed future conduct.

3. Accuracy, evidence and context

• Submit only information honestly believed to be accurate and reasonably supportable.
• Distinguish a fact from an allegation, unresolved dispute, opinion or tribunal/court finding.
• Consider agreed payment arrangements, maintenance failures, emergencies and other relevant context.
• Do not use an assessment to pressure payment of a genuinely disputed amount.
• Do not include identity numbers, documents, medical information or private communications unnecessarily.

4. Prohibited assessment conduct

Assessments may not be discriminatory, retaliatory, threatening, insulting, knowingly false, misleading, malicious, extortionate, defamatory, or unrelated to the tenancy. A landlord may not offer to improve or remove an assessment in exchange for payment, silence, withdrawal of a complaint, or surrender of a legal right.

5. Visibility and decision use

Assessments are not intended for open public search. They may be shown to the assessed tenant, authorised administrators, and a landlord who has approved rental-purpose access. A receiving landlord must consider recency, context, the dispute status and other information and must not treat a concern signal as conclusive proof or the sole basis of a decision.

6. Tenant disputes

A tenant may dispute an assessment as inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, retaliatory, discriminatory, abusive, not tied to a genuine tenancy, or missing important context. The tenant should identify the signal, explain the concern and provide available supporting information. RentSignal may ask either party for further information.

7. Moderation outcomes

RentSignal may retain the assessment, add or preserve a dispute status, restrict visibility, correct administrative errors, or hide/remove content. Moderation is a platform-safety process and does not determine legal liability, debt, damages, eviction rights or the outcome of a Rental Housing Tribunal or court matter.

8. Pending legal or tribunal proceedings

Users must disclose when the same issue is before a tribunal, ombud, regulator or court. RentSignal may pause moderation, restrict visibility or update the record when a competent body issues a ruling. Nothing in this policy replaces a landlord's or tenant's statutory remedies.

9. Retention and repeat misuse

Hidden assessments and moderation records may be retained for audit, repeat-abuse detection, security and legal claims. Repeated misuse may result in assessment privileges being removed or the account being suspended under the Acceptable use policy.