Hello
I am sorting referencing for a new house, and I need to provide an employer reference. My HR department are telling me they won’t click the link and don’t provide online references, but open rent are saying they won’t accept a reference unless it is via their online link. Feeling pretty stuck here - anyone have any advice?
You’re not the first to have this problem, but I’ve never known the answer.
Have you used the Openbanking option via the referencing link to prove income?
@mod_harry is there any flexibility?
We can only accept references which are provided via our online portal - this process allows us to conduct a number of security checks on the user to assess the legitimacy of the reference being provided.
If your employer cannot click on links directly from our email, they can visit Referee Lookup | OpenRent and enter the code we sent them in the email.
We’re not able to rely on references provided directly via email or through documents, such as bank statements or employment contracts, as these are incredibly difficult to verify and we need to make sure we’re only providing landlords with robust and accurate information.
As Karl alludes to, OpenBanking is the most reliable way for us to verify your income, but understandably this is not compatible with every single bank and some people may opt-out of this.
You can read the Money Saving Expert’s article on how OpenBanking works and its security.
In any case, you are welcome to provide any additional documents to the landlord directly to help them make a decision on your application.
The answer is not to use OR for referencing. Instead, take up references directly with HR.
OpenRent’s response seems perfectly reasonable, curious as to what referencing you use and why it’s better than OR’s? Your comment suggests that you reference tenants yourself - do you also run credit checks?
Taking up references is different from running a credit check although people often conflate the two. You can do your own employment referencing by simply verifying that you are communicating with the applicant’s employer via a company email address or HR department. Cross referencing with LinkedIn is also useful e.g. if you’re writing to your applicant’s supposed boss and the details they provide for them match an actual LinkedIn profile, that helps verify the person is legit.
I ask them to verify the applicant’s length of employment, contract status and current salary.
I do that myself before I run credit checks. Credit checks are the very last thing I do in my process. The package often includes referencing so I always tell those I have already contacted that they’ll probably get a link to follow to fill in a basic referencing form. That acts as a cross reference for info I already have on file and the credit check does the same for the bank statements and payslips I’ve already seen from the applicant.
This is my method. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
We had the same issue and it appears more corporates are refusing to use OpenRent’s online (low cost presumably) system because of possible security issues. OpenRent refuse point blank to offer an alternative and the report comes back with a poor rating. We’ve had this too with a national chain of letting agents unable to use the same system.
Given OpenRent’s immovable stance we will only use them for advertising in future.
You may also notice that despite legislation, they don’t have a clear complaints process like any reputable organisation. Again it would be easy to conclude that this reduces costs.
I suspect the ‘wheel’ for OpenRent is slowing and the future is not bright.
Iain
Yet another reason… I should create a list. 