Disability & Rentguard Referencing

General Chat
1

Hi all

Can’t say its nice to be here, talking about our latest experience on Openrent. But I felt I must bear all, as a warning to anyone who receives Disability Incomes E.g.: Dla, Pip, Carers Allowance, Attendance Allowance, & any sort of DWP Benefits.

Myself & our Son Rented the property were in 6 months ago, for £690pcm. Through Openrent, passed Rentguard Referencing with flying colours.

We have now decided to move on & thought why not use Openrent again. We were happy we found another property on Openrent for £650.00. We went to the property 3 times, explained how we would finance the Rental payments (Disability Income). All was okay agreed a date to move in, told put our Deposit down. Paid our £ 200.00, then before we were Referenced, we log in too see Guarantor required. First shock. I assumed this must be the future Landlord/Lady. Last time I had a Guarantor, was nearly 50 years ago. Landlady knew there was only me & my Son left.

We then receive a call Friday, from future Landlady, to say we failed Referencing, (shock), so I said I will phone Rentguard . They told me I passed Referencing, but my Son was not being Referenced, as he is on Benefits (Pip). I quoted to them about the Equality Act 2010. I was then told to send in his entitlements, & they would reference him. Monday come phoned Rentguard again, to get an update. We are then told, they were not Referencing him again as he gets Benefits (Pip), & he has failed Referencing. I again quoted the Equality Act. I tried making complaints to Rentguard & Openrent, & they did not want to know, promised Phone calls back, never called. Tuesday came, we receive Email to say we failed Referencing, & the property was put back on the Market. The question is how can you fail if they do not Reference you. And have the cheek to take £20.00 for not Referencing our Son.

Unfortunately, we will never use Openrent again, & stick to Agents that use Homelet, whom accept Disability Income, as Income, & other Incomes. And we can also say we have never failed with them & always have excellent References, wherever we have lived.

We wish all of you good luck in finding a Home, just careful who you use.

2

Hi,

Thanks for getting in touch and providing detail as to your experience here.

I apologise for the confusion with the process - the team have been in touch by email to clarify the outcome of the referencing reports and we are liaising with Rentguard as we speak.

In this instance, referencing began on 14/02 and concluded the next day.

Rentguard can reference any prospective tenant over 18 years old, regardless of whether or not they are receiving disability income. About a third of our properties accept DSS, and landlords will often order referencing on these tenants - many of which will be receiving income from the sources you mention.

Rest assured, nothing’s stopping such tenants from being referenced.

Where you’re not aware as to how decisions on references are made, the below has proven useful to many tenants:

https://blog.openrent.co.uk/how-does-tenant-referencing-credit-checks-work-uk/

Naturally, tenants are entitled to a copy of their reference report - so these can be provided upon request, so please do just let us know by email if you’d like a copy.

George