I received a message from Openrent on a Sunday to say that I had a Rent Now Application from a person who had not even viewed. When i looked at my account my ad had been paused and they warned me that my future appointments would be cancelled. I think this is a cheek. I immediately rejected the Rent Now but my worry is that if i had not seen this on the Sunday then the two bookings i had for the next day would have been cancelled and my ad paused.
My understanding is that if a prospective tenant clicks ‘Rent Now’ and gives a deposit, then the advert is not paused until you accept the deposit.
An advert can be paused if there have been too many applications (i think from memory 100) without you accepting a tenant.
In respect of the person who gave a deposit without viewing the property, my advice is to decline it and instigate a refund.
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The message on my Tenant Enquiries definitely said my listing had been paused and my bookings cancelled but I don’t know if they do it instantly or give you a grace period. There was no talk of a deposit but i found a rejection link and sent a message to say I would require a viewing and more info. I am shocked that a tenant can pause a landlords listing in any circumstances/
Hi @E114,
Tenants are told to only place holding deposits on properties where they have the permission of the landlord.
When a holding deposit is offered, a landlord has 96 hours to respond.
Where a landlord doesn’t respond within the 96 hour period we will automatically refund the potential tenant’s money and pause your advertisement. Therefore we recommend that you respond as soon as you can.
We send emails reminding you of how long you have to take action on the holding deposit application, including how to decline this.
you might tell them this, doing it is something else Desperation will make some ignore this, which annoys the paying client , the landlord !!. Like we tell tenants to turn a fan on in kitchen/bathroom when steamy. some think it does not matter
Did you inadvertently accept the holding deposit? My understanding is once you accept a holding deposit quite rightly the advert should be paused as the law does not permit you to continue advertising.
If you do not accept the deposit your advert continues to be live. You can return the deposit or ignore it until it is automatically returned after a period of time.