Real estate · AI Act

Real estate — AI Act: governing creditworthiness scoring

The use of automated creditworthiness scoring of applicants engages the AI Act: the assessment of the creditworthiness of natural persons may qualify as high risk, with significant implications for non-discrimination in access to housing. This guide clarifies the classification and the applicable obligations.

DPO / CISO team — Data Comply One Updated on 15 June 2026

In brief

  • Regulation: AI Act.
  • Agencies, platforms, and lenders deploying a scoring system are deployers; the software publisher is the provider.
  • Qualify scoring.
  • Control biases.
  • Ensure oversight.
  • Up to €35M or 7% for prohibited practices and €15M or 3% for high risk, in addition to GDPR exposure.

Regulatory deadlines

The key dates of this regulation.

August 2024

Entry into force

In force

February 2025

Ban on prohibited practices

In force

August 2025

General-purpose AI models (GPAI) & governance

In force

August 2026

High-risk system obligations (Annex III)

In force

August 2027

High-risk embedded in products (Annex I)

Upcoming

What does the AI Act cover?

The AI Act classifies the assessment of the creditworthiness of natural persons as high-risk. A tool that automatically scores applicants for rental or purchase may therefore be subject to high-risk obligations: risk management, data quality, bias control, human oversight, and documentation.

GDPR also governs fully automated decisions with significant effect.

Is the 'Real Estate' sector affected?

Agencies, platforms and landlords deploying scoring systems are deployers; the publisher is the provider. A manual review of authorised documents does not constitute such a system.

Non-discrimination is the central issue, with access to housing at stake.

Detailed obligations

Qualify scoring

Determine whether the tool assesses the creditworthiness of individuals (high risk).

Control biases

Auditing data and outputs to prevent discrimination.

Ensure supervision

Ensuring effective human decision-making.

Inform

Informing candidates about the use of scoring.

Articulate with GDPR

Comply with the framework for automated decision-making.

Sanctions & risks

Up to €35 M or 7% for prohibited practices and €15 M or 3% for high risk, on top of GDPR exposure. A discriminatory scoring system applied to housing access carries significant liability.

Application timeline

  • 1Entry into force. 1 August 2024.
  • 2High risk. From 2 August 2026 for creditworthiness assessment.

Common mistakes in the sector

  • 1High risk denied. Treating a creditworthiness score as a simple filter.
  • 2Untested biases. Not audit results by profile.
  • 3Unregulated automated decision-making. Rejecting a candidate without human intervention.
  • 4Missing information. Failing to inform about scoring.

Practical case

A platform was automatically ranking applicants using a creditworthiness score. As a potentially high-risk use case, it audited for bias, introduced human oversight of rejections, informed applicants, and aligned the system with the GDPR framework governing automated decision-making.

Compliance roadmap

  1. 1

    Inventory. Map sorting and scoring tools.

  2. 2

    Qualify. Isolate creditworthiness scoring.

  3. 3

    Auditing biases. Monitor data and outcomes.

  4. 4

    Frame. Supervision and information.

  5. 5

    Articulate. Comply with GDPR.

Frequently asked questions

Automated creditworthiness assessment of individuals may qualify as such under the AI Act.

Back to the Real estate guideReal estate & GDPR

Take action on AI Act

Free assessment or a chat with an expert dedicated to real estate.

Start my free assessment Talk to an expert

They already trust us

See how organisations in the real estate sector secured their compliance with DCO.

See testimonials