Hi.
I am new to OpenRent.
I come across a let property which I am interested in with overseas landlord. He can’t be there in person, hence he is suggesting to use OpenRent service.
He is asking us to make a full month + deposit payment via OpenRent first, then we will receive the keys and the contract within 48 hours. As soon as we have received the keys, we can visit the property. If we like the property, we can sign the contract and confirm OpenRent the decision. The tanancy is proceed accordingly. But if we decide against the property after the viewing, we just need to send him back to keys, then the contract is invalid and OpenRent will transfer the money back to us.
May I know that is it a common and normal practice, and is the payment refundable with no admin charge if I found the property not fitting me?
Never pay anything in advance.
View first then place holding deposit if landlord agrees to.
Do not hand over months rent without a contract. Landlord will need to reference and credit check you first, if they don’t there’s something wrong.
This smells of scam.
Openrent do a viewing service.
Where did you find the property? Facebook is full of scams.
Thanks for your reply. Do you mean Openrent can help such overseas landlord to do a viewing service without any charge (to tenant) in advance?
I found in Facebook marketplace. As I am going to live with my family (my spouse and my kids), is it he should also get my spouse’s information for reference and credit check as well, instead of just asking for mine?
Thanks.
It is a requirement that a Right To Rent check is performed for your spouse and possibly referencing also.
They charge landlord separately for tenant viewing.
Someone said on here that right to rent document check can be done on zoom. OR won’t do the rtr check.
All tenants should need referencing (over 18).
Like I said do not pay in advance, certainly not the rent. You need to be certain it’s not a scam. Is the property listed on Open rent? If it isn’t there’s a high chance of it being a con.
Have you spoken with “landlord”? Setup a zoom meeting. Any genuine landlord would be requiring at least a phone call.
Think about this, do you think any landlord would let to someone without thoroughly checking them out? Tenancy contracts aren’t produced until viewing carried out all the details are discussed and confirmed.
After asking that “landlord” for some more details / using OpenRent’s viewing service, he disappeared.
Probably it is a scam.
Thank you so much for your help. 
Facebook Marketplace is the place you go to get scammed. It is worse than the wild west.
As Mark10 quoted. If it is not advertised on a property platform like OpenRent, Right Move, Zoopla etc it is probably a scam. Landlords have to provide proof of ownership before they can list their properties for rent or sale. I doubt Facebook do the same.
Never pay to view a property especially the deposit and 1st months rent. If you do that you’ve technically entered into a contracted rental agreement
you view a property and if you like it you can sign up and pay money. if you cant do that walk away its that simple
Never pay advance, especially those from Facebook or gumtree. Witness this before- the renter see the photos of a property that the scammer gathered from Rightmove or OpenRent as his own. Renter pay advance money into a bank account and when arrived at the address, it is not available to move into.
What everyone else said, the law defines the limits of what can be paid before a contract is signed (limited to a holding deposit, which is perfectly fine).
Legally, payment creates “consideration” for the landlord and renders the signing of the contract completely nonsensical - as consideration for one party has already occurred, but not the other, and so the contract no-longer creates consideration for both parties.
That said the housing market is completely lawless (just see how many landlords openly boast on this very forum that they will ignore any changes to housing law, just like they have ignored the current laws). Sometimes you just have to bite your lip and take the risk of being ripped off, or risk homelessness.
Quite how we have ended up in such a state is mystery to me, but “wild west” hardly even starts to describe it.
look under the heading "why are rentals so hard to find " and you will see how we have ended up like this .
Maybe so Colin, but when I was taught law (for engineers), the basic principles of contracts was thought of as one of the greatest achievements of English Law. Exported to world. Held as sacrosanct. The foundation of all free markets.
The modern process for renting a house bears little relation to UK-Law, not even contract law.
House prices might go up, they might go down, but the process of buying a house is the same as it always has been, maybe with a few computer based checks thrown in. Only the price really changes. That is a free-market.
Practices like asking for money before releasing a contract strike directly at idea that renting is a free-market. Once payment has been made, you are no longer a free-agent, and are in effect forced to sign a deal you never even saw.
One day the a high-court will throw out an eviction-notice because the contract was not well formed, and landlords will cry-out like one “why did the law not protect us”, and the answer will be “because you stopped following the law along time ago, because you thought you were above it”.
My advice to Patsy, if you can walk away, if not, know that the landlord has created a mess by trying to walk the line between legal and unlawful. You may both regret the result.
Surprised by how many of your statements are completely biased against landlords. Nothing about the reckless lawless behaviour of tenants in any way.
The idea that most landlords think they are above the law shows absolute ignorance, this is certainly not the case.
all tenants can see and read the contract FIRST . Mine sign and pay in the same event Cash. If they want to pay by a bank ,then I will only sign After I have checked the money is in NY account
Nope this is not right. Smells of scam. See property, get contract, then pay deposit etc
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