I viewed a property listed on your platform around two weeks ago, but I have not received any response from the landlord since then. I have tried to contact the landlord through the OpenRent messaging system as well as the phone number provided, but unfortunately, the number is not reachable.
My family and I are very interested in this property and are hoping to move in as soon as possible. We would greatly appreciate your help in contacting the landlord or providing an update on the property’s availability.
Thank you for your support, and I look forward to your response.
I understand your dilemma. Honestly, if the person who advertised the property posing as a landlord can’t be bothered to reply you or even answer a call or reply a text message then that’s a red flag and you would not want to be giving thousands of pounds a month to someone like that. It’s very rude and unprofessional. They are not a company hiring employees having to deal with hundreds of applicants. Even if they have a lot of interest in their property, two weeks is a long time to still be going through all the viewing requests and the decent thing to do should be to take the property down, or at least have the courtesy and manners to reply those who are still waiting on an answer.
Perhaps see it as you’ve dodged a bullet as there are many scammers out there and OpenRent do not have stringent checks to verify only genuine landlords to be allowed to put up a listing, there are lots of crooks on here posing as landlords. Some people sublet and pretend to be a landlord, there really is no way of finding out until you can actually meet the person when you go to see the property. Always insist on proof that they are the actual landlord, the tenant isn’t the only one supposed to show proof of identity and documentation, landlords must do this too to avoid fraud. They should have a local UK address and have ID to prove this. Remember, it’s a business transaction and you will be paying this person huge portions of your income every month, so you need to be covered too and carry out your own thorough checks.
Most importantly, there must always be good communication between you and whoever you rent from, if they are difficult to get hold of then if a problem should occur with the property that needs fixing or urgent attention what will you do? You may find yourself either having to call in professionals and pay out of your own pocket or live with the problems, possibly at the detriment of you and your family’s health and safety and still have to pay thousands in rent. So take my advice and don’t facilitate such crooked landlords in their money laundering, they really think they are above everyone with their god-complex and feel they can play monopoly in real life. They don’t care how hated they are.
Try going to your local council and they should have a list of legitimate private landlords who are registered as well as housing associations and estate agents they work with - I know estate agents are another opportunistic lot but few are pretty decent and at least you will know for sure the properties you’re looking at are available and the landlords are somewhat legit as they have to pay the agents a fee and are vetted and kept in check. Plus your deposit goes into a government scheme instead of someone’s back pocket and you get an assured tenancy, there’s a paper trail and things are done right and everything is checked by the agents. There are also properties that the estate agents rent out themselves and are priced more reasonably.
I hope you find a safe and comfortable home soon. Good luck!
This made me chuckle, even if it is an anti-landlord and quite hateful post. It’s usually the landlord showing and chasing the agent to get things done right.
Tenant customer satisfaction surveys consistently put private landlords top, followed by agents with corporate landlords last.
Landlords are certainly not kept in check by agents, more like the other way round!
What if they don’t have have a local address? Are they fraudulent? A landlord is not required to show ID or proof to a tenant or potential tenant, though it certainly doesn’t hurt to should they wish to do so. A tenant should ask to see this, but just be diplomatic about it.