Disable Rent Now Button

[Andy333]

I had one a couple of days ago from someone who hadn’t viewed the property yet, but who is on a list of 8 people to view on Monday. He is far from my number 1 choice.

At first it made me rather anxious, as it took me by surprise. I couldn’t understand why OpenRent were accepting money from someone I had not agreed to proceed with. I feared I might have clicked on something in error causing this unwanted application.

For some reason he thought it was just his decision to take the property and was surprised when I told him otherwise.

[Mark10]

@Andy333

OpenRent were accepting money from someone I had not agreed to proceed with

Did they actually leave a deposit, without you “accepting” ?

[Andy333]

Yes he paid a holding deposit to OpenRent. He was then asking me how to get it back, which to start with I had no idea and it took a bit of time to figure out.

When a prospective tenant clicks on the RentNow icon, they can give their credit card details and leave a deposit. I’ve heard they can do that even when the landlord is only using OpenRent for the advertising, which I find bizarre.

OpenRent even sent me a text with “Congratulations…”!

[Mark10]

This is ridiculous that this is still how it works.

@Daz what do you make of this? This contradicts your earlier post which says landlord has to accept when tenant clicks?

How can you not see how this creates issues for all parties? Again, messaging to tenant alone is not sufficient.

[Andy333]

@Daz

Hopefully it also goes on to explain that clicking through Rent Now is only a request to rent your property. And furthermore only a request to place a holding deposit. This request does not impact your advertising, and can be cancelled without any issue by either party, until it is accepted.

@Daz

Furthermore, the landlord needs to accept the request from the applicant before anything happens.

This is misleading. If it was simply a request from the tenant to proceed then I can understand that. Paying a holding deposit with their debit/credit card is not the same thing as a request to proceed or even a request to place a deposit. Even the text I received from OpenRent, stated a deposit had been paid.

[Andy333]

I came across this, which I expect is what the tenant sees when they click the RentNow button.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjdhdjz6bX8AhW7TUEAHeoLB48QFnoECAoQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhelp.openrent.co.uk%2Fhc%2Fen-gb%2Farticles%2F360017936178-How-do-I-place-a-holding-deposit-&usg=AOvVaw1dEf_M0w28XT8QYktx5_BL

[Colin3]

a lot of chancers will ignore the bit about please contact the landlord first

[Daz]

@Mark10

@Daz what do you make of this? This contradicts your earlier post which says landlord has to accept when tenant clicks?

Hi @Mark10 / @Andy333 - A landlord needs to accept a holding deposit for any impact on your listing / advert. If a tenant requests to proceed with Rent Now, without your consent, or because you’ve had a request from someone more desirable, you can simply reject their request by:

a) Accepting a different application
b) Following the guidance in our email “See Application & Next Steps”, or from your advert “pending application - landlord action required - click here”. You can then click “View Cancel / Reject Application Options” → “Unsuitable Tenants or Unwanted Holding Deposit”.

As stated earlier, and as per our site, the payment is a request to place a holding deposit. Without landlord accepting there is no agreement in place at all. This is explicitly confirmed by all tenants here:

Yes, if a tenant requests to proceed as a landlord you do have to make an active decision. Much like a tenant requesting to view your property, we require landlords to make a decision and be responsive. However, landlords do not have to accept holding deposits, in the same way they don’t need to agree to specific viewing times, or viewings at all (eg. if the tenant is found to be unsuitable prior to viewings).