We have an overall communal electric bill and they have a meter and pay us what they use. Then we pay the whole bill to the company. I think there are HMOs that also do this. We have never had issues with the deposit schemes. Also you have to send evidence for all the usual items for tenancies including regular inspections, certificates etc. They did in the end pay as goodwill but I think they still don’t include it. It just feels like something will stop payout.
Sorry, Karina. I was in the wrong here. Bad day. Do keep posting and don’t mind grumpy me. I suffer from chronic pain and can be a pain in the rear myself )))
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This is paragraph 2 on Open Rent’s standard lease agreement (as at October 2022, it may have changed but unlikely):
“The Tenant shall pay to OpenRent on the signing of this agreement the amount of the Deposit and the first payment of Rent, unless the Tenant and the Landlord have agreed in writing a later date when payment may be made. This agreement shall not become binding on the Landlord until the Tenant has paid the Deposit and the first payment of Rent, and the Tenant shall have no right to occupy the Premises, until this payment has been made in full.”
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That seems to cover it .?
They always have the option of cash deposit, and Reposit is, as you state an option the Landlord can offer or not. It’s very easy to exclude
this thread illustrates yes another reason not to use Rent Now. I’ve said it before on these forums and I’ll say it again: RN removes control from LLs who should have complete control of every aspect of the letting process.
Are you listening OR?
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This is defaulted to use Reposit and difficult or almost impossible to avoid. I have checked very carefully when setting up ad - No mention of Reposit at all. I then checked very carefully when issuing the contract and no mention of Reposit until I found it afterwards in the contract for me to sign.
It said tenant could use it at their choice. I then said to the tenant not to use it, but they then said they couldn’t find how to opt out and do the deposit instead.
I finally found how to change by recalling and reissue. It meant finding an advanced options and scrolling down to the end where you turn a default button off.
This concerns me as it defaults to using Reposit, It is not mentioned, the option to turn it off, is not mentioned and difficult to find even if you are aware and wanting not use it. The tenant said they couldn’t find how to do deposit instead.
There is a commission paid to the agent, but it may be Open Rent’s own product, but I can’t find out.
The buttons are set so when you think you will go to next bit to check what you are about to issue, it just issues contract straight away.
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Reading all this from a renters point of view is quite eye- opening. I have 22 ccjs. I have no problem renting and never have. My ccjs are because i got loads of parking tickets that i disputed. Also for a phone contract ,where they were not giving me service. I have rented all my life, my credit score is 133 lol. I have always paid deposits and rent, including money on top. Just funny to see. It is allways the ones with good credit and no ccjs who are the bad ones . My landlord says we are like family. Six in my household. 3 have ccjs for legitimate reasons. Having a bad credit score and ccjs does not make you a bad renter!
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If you are someone who stops paying when you think youre not “getting service”, then this is definitely something a landlord should take into account.
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Correct, and this is why I said I wanted to void the contract. OR sent me a link but it when I tried to follow the steps it became apparent I couldn’t do it.
And I withheld the keys and asked the tenants to withdraw as I was very unhappy go ahead with the tenancy. They wouldn’t. And so when they eventually paid I had no choice - or so I was told.
This has to be a wind up!
Are you speaking from vast experience here?
The recorded stats must all be wrong!
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Hi Daniel.
I have had several tenants over my 20 years as a landlord with not perfect credit history. With due diligence and a good instinct, I have had very few issues with them and many are still good tenants of mine 10+ years in.
These tenants had no red flags at all right up to the tenancy start date and as soon as they hadn’t paid on time every alarm bell went off. But the way RN worked meant I was forced to proceed and am now paying the price.
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Rubbish… it is obvious. Why would any Landlord issue a contract without reviewing all of the options, and checking they are selected as they wish.
What recorded stats?
Why would OR create a contract where a LL had to be careful that options they wouldn’t typically select are selected for them by default?
Being a LL is hard enough without OR creating a minefield for us to walk through. This thread, the many threads about issues with MyDeposits and the one about OR not providing legal support for an S21 notice issued through their system, show that in some significant ways, OR is not acting in the best intrest of LLs who use their services.
And so far, we’ve not heard anything to show that they are willing to make adjustments in the face of feedback.
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I’ve used RN on 6 previous new tenancies and all are problem free. BUT, this experience has highlighted far too many flaws for me so with regret, I’m never using it again.
What a pile of rubbish.
I also found that Reposit was offered without my knowledge ‘at tenants choice’ . The latest tenant they told me it didn’t give them an option to opt out and do normal deposit. I only solved it by finding an edit and reissue, but was still hard to change in an advanced option.
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