An applicant has just informed me that OpenRent has charged them for tenant referencing or a ‘verification fee’. It seems clear to me that this type of fee charged by LL or Agent has been banned under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.
I understand Openrent is acting as my agent and therefore this is a clear breach by making this charge to the tenant. I intend to refuse all applicants who have been recharged until I receive assurance that this is somehow permitted.
Can anyone from Open Rent provide some clarity on this issue?
Open Rent support has informed me that they are offering this to Tenants but this is considered optional, i have copied their reply:
Verified Tenant is a purely optional service that tenants can purchase to boost their chances of finding their dream property by completing a number of checks ahead of time.
Under the ban, you cannot require a tenant to pay for the services of a third party. However, if a tenant opts to employ the services of a third party, for example, by purchasing their own reference check or inventory service, they will be responsible for any associated costs. At OpenRent, we work hard to reduce fees for both tenants and Landlords and we are upfront and transparent about all of our costs to make renting fairer for everyone.
Charging the tenant for Verified Tenant status sounds like its sailing pretty close to the wind on the Tenant Fees Act. If this is true then I hope OR have had very good legal advice on this.
ah yes the optional fee to allow tenants to stand out, so they are credit checked in advance. I expect this needs redoing periodically as it will become out of date.
Landlords are able to be “verified” if they use rent now, which I don’t, I imagine it puts me at a disadvantage slightly to some tenants.