@Openrent please could you stop inviting prospective tenants to place a holding deposit. I have it on my advertisement and pre screening questionnaire that they should wait until all parties are in agreement.
Someone viewed only today and the advert has been live only 48 hours with other viewings booked. You contacted them to place a holding deposit only a few hours after their viewing.
Please stop this. It is just confusing for tenants. When I am ready I will invite them to place the holding deposit when I have chosen who to proceed with and not before.
Thank you.
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I totally agree. I have had 2 experiences of disappointed prospective tenants when i had to tell them they were unsuccessful
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Also agree, has happened a number of times and the prospective tenants all have to then have it explained why the fact they have placed a deposit does not mean they have secured the property. We also get a lot complain at us about how they now have no money until the deposit is returned and expect us to return it instantly.
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I have had this happen three or four times now over the past few years, this part of the system definitely needs to be changed.
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They won’t stop. It’s clear they do this to force landlords to use their full rent now service rather than just using OR for marketing only. Keeps landlords and tenants tied into OR
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I use the Rent Now anyway and think it is great. I just wish they wouldn’t do this. Creates no end of confusion. It happened again with a second tenant that we have gone forward with, but that isn’t the point.
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Hi Everyone
Looking for help with deposits. Tenant has placed holding deposit. I’ve completed references but decided not to continue with the Tenants. How do I return the holding deposit to them?
Cheers Annette
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Yes I agree Open rent should not prompt for a deposit, it should be down to the landlord’s own discretion. I have had to return deposits in the past as I like to make sure the tenants pass all my checks before I offer a tenancy. It wrongly suggests to the prospective tenant who has paid the deposit, that they have the property because they have paid a deposit, which is not the case.
Also not sure if this is still the case, but once a deposit was paid, the other applicants were messaged to say that the property was no longer available and the advert taken off the market.
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I reckon this is the biggest flaw in the open rent system.
I now explain to EVERY preospective tenant not to press the button until I invite them to.
If they do so I message them and say I have rejected their offer as they sent it before they were invited to - but that I will invite them again if and when I decide their application is successful .
I explain I want to be fair to everyone so usually arrange viewing over a couple of different days and then invite successful viewers - your approach might be different if you have less competition for your property. Also I explain that is they do not respond quickly when invited they are likely to lose it .
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@Sharon10 yes, it is still the case that marketing is ceased when a holding deposit is placed, even an uninvited one.
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so glad you mentioned this, i have said this to them direct and they ignore it. It just makes things unpleasant when the tenant thinks they have the property and i have to tell them they do not. really annoying
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when they apply for the place tell them if they place a holding deposit without your permission, then you will return it and they WILL NOT get the tenancy at all
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It’s a cr ap process. Landlords all need to tell OR that this is not wanted. Then listen to their drivel justifying it, the only real reason is to force landlords to use rent now.
@Colin3 I make it very clear on my adverts and in my pre screening questionnaire that prospective tenants must not be place a holding deposit unless invited. Then, after a viewing, they get an email from OpenRent inviting them to do just that.
Yes, I can reject it but it causes confusion and ill feeling.
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Taking this sort of deposit is ILLEGAL in Scotland.
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