Hello all, help needed! I have a tenant who we wish to let our property to - seems to be the perfect tenant after over 20 viewings. He passed affordability however due to a parking related CCJ of around £283 he has failed referencing. I have a reference from his current landlord, accountant and work place. All seems good to proceed but due to the CCJ I cannot rent guarantee insurance (RGI). The tenant is working on getting the CCJ removed but we are not sure how this will take. How do I proceed with this? Any pointers would be appreciated.
You have a choice……..proceed without rent protection Insurance, or don’t proceed.
removing the CCJ, won’t be a quick exercise
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Current landlord references cannot be relied upon. If the landlord wants them gone they will not give them a poor reference. I’d want previous landlord references.
I suggest that a home owner guarantor is now essential, whether or not they have a CCJ.
Remember, all potential tenants are either Meryl Streep or Robert De Niro before they get hold of what is yours.
Have you checked a years worth of bank statements yourself? With the RRA it’s essential you’re as thorough as you can be with vetting. Without rent guarantee insurance I’d still be thinking twice. Takes a lot to get a CCJ.
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What if he is happy to pay 6 months rent advance? He is certain the CCJ will be removed by then!
This doesn’t solve the problem to me. What if 6 months pass and the ccj is still active?
Why did they ignore requests to pay parking fine? This is an indicator of attitude to debt.
The CCJ only came to light when the referencing was done, the car was registered to a business and all the notices and letters (via a private parking firm) went to a communal business address and none was received. Even till date.
in theory you should be able to take out RGI once CCJ has cleared. (Some firms will allow, don’t know about openrent)
As I said, Guarantor and more thorough checks is what i would be doing.(if you are set on this tenant, personally I would pass)
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Thanks Mark, very helpful
Tenant having guarantor will actually qualify you for RGI with some firms, despite the CCJ.
bear in mind that without guarantor, some firms will require the CCJ to have been satisfied for some considerable length of time.
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what? He’s potentially offering 6 months up front but hasn’t been able to pay off less than £300 quid? 
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The ccj has only just been revealed to tenant during credit check, apparently..
It appears to be landlord who is thinking about requesting 6 months in advance
Find another tenant
RRB is law
If referencing fails you either do something to mitigate the cause of the failure like adding a guarantor or you walk away. You don’t just hope tenant will sort out in future and take their word for it. Otherwise why bother with referencing.
If getting the RGI is important to you and you can’t get it without tenant clearing CCJ (or by finding a guarantor instead and also telling whichever insurance firm you use that would ok that - you must tell them upfront of this risk ) then just don’t do it
Look for another better tenant. You can always leave the door a teensy bit ajar by telling tenant that once they clear the CCJ then they can apply again and if your place is still vacant you’ll be pleased to consider again.
You may feel you’ve wasted effort and £ when referencing fails and it’s frustrating, but if you are concerned enough to want to pay for RGI then it’s a small cost really and it has done its job by making you think twice about renting to this particular person
Good luck
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I have a blanket rule “no CCJS”, but seems this landlord is adamant on squeezing this tenant through the door whatever it takes.
As you say, not checking or updating address is sloppy, if even true.
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He is getting a guarantor…thanks all.
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Ask him for this reason you would need a HOME OWNER GURANTOR - they will easily give this to you . You have this safety net better than rent insurance and save costs . We do this all the time
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