NAIROBI, KENYA: The establishment of Credit Reference Bureau has made it possible for financial institutions to map out defaulters making it difficult to lend money to customers who are unlikely to pay back.
A credit reference bureau (CRB) is a firm that collects information from various sources and provides consumer credit information on individual consumers for a variety of uses.
The information is made available on request to customers of the credit bureau for the purposes of credit assessment, credit scoring or for other purposes such as employment consideration.
With its success in Kenya, a number of entities are calling for its extended application to help profile corrupt individuals and habitual rent defaulters.
On Thursday players drawn from the Kenya Private Sector said they are thinking of creation of a corruption referencing bureau in the next five years to deal with rampant cases of corruption denying Kenyans essential services.
The bureau will work like the existing credit reference bureau and will come in handy in helping institutions such as banks from dealing with corrupt individuals.
But it is not only in curbing corruption that the model will be used.
Urban Landlords and Tenants Association (ULTAK) now want all tenants falling under their association to seek CRB clearance before moving from one house to another
According to ULTAK secretary general, Ephraim Murigo, the move is geared towards taming the rising cases of rent defaulters
It is also expected to curb cases of insecurity by ensuring that details of those renting houses are kept by the previous landlord and the association. This is occasioned by resent terror attack at DusitD2 hotel which claimed 21 lives leaving scores injured.
“We handle more than 100 cases of rent disputes and this will be the only way to minimize them and ensure both the landlord and the tenant live harmoniously. It will also help in keeping details of tenants moving in to our houses and fostering security,” said Murigo.
He added that the country would be more secure if every landlord registers the details of their tenants giving reasons for moving into a new house
Murigo however faulted landlords for not striving to be in touch with their tenants. He said while there is no clear means of punishing errant landlords most of have left the management of their houses to agents thereby creating a disconnect between the tenants and landlords.
The association is set to have a national conference for landlords to chat the best ways forward for the industry.
