I am very concerned by an open rent autogenerated message sent to my tenants which reads
“I would prefer to use OpenRent’s Rent Now service. It’s a professional and secure way to transfer money, handle deposits and sign a tenancy. Half a million tenants and landlords already benefit. You can click the “Request Holding Deposit” button to [start my application]”
I did not write this but it has my avatar and pretends to be from me .starting “I would prefer to use” not "open rent recommends "
I do use open rent’s RENT NOW service but I would prefer tenants not to apply for a holding deposit until invited.
My tenant has given me notice to quit on 16th - I can advertise interview and conduct viewing before that date but cannot accept a holding deposit.
Encouraging a tenant to submit one before that date is illegal. PLease ammend you message so it complies with the law and does not impersonate me.
THe message encourages tenants to click the “request holding deposit” button before they have viewed or I have intervied them. I refuse all such applications from tenants who push the button before they have an invitation from me to do so to.
IN addition the message which I did not write but which illegally impersonates me causes me additional work and costs.
TLDR
I am writing to request you remove and desist from sending messages in my name that I did not write
I am also concerned about the the new operation of the Deposit protection scheme. I m looking to sell an HMO to a new landlord with 7 different deposits now scattered across my original DPS , the one used by open rent , and those now held in Openrent not my account . This is franky a mess and is making my job harder not easier - and making my property less attractive.
Its a shame because I choose open rent because it empowered and resourced me to manage my property myself - but I feel it is now falling into the traps of traditional agents and losing its distinctive selling point.
If this trend continues Open Rent will lose my business - I really hope it gets back to the original vision because it really was great for independent landlords and I would prefer to continue using it. But I have to say I and other landlords I know are now reconsidering our loyalty to the platform because it just doesn’t work for usa the same now .
If this is a message generated by Openrent without your consent, its absoloutely outrageous! I would make a formal complaint if I were you Mark and if you dont get satisfaction, escalate it to whichever redress scheme Openrent belong to.
Hi @Mark107 - The message is auto-generated from the tenant side when they show interest in your property and want to proceed. As per the contents of the message, it’s inviting you, the landlord, to “request” a holding deposit.
This isn’t a message that appears for the tenant, it’s only visible to you, the landlord.
Thank you for replying Daz -the message is confusing written and was not at all clear from the wording of the message. . Though I am glad it is not being sent to all tenants As it is not clear to me if this message is really from my tenant or is from open rent ?
But could you please clarify the following.
Did the tenants explicitly approve this message before it was sent . Or does auto generated meanthis message was sent without the tenant agreeing it ? .
I always use open rents rent now service to handle the holding deposit the first rent and deposit and also use Open Rents Contract (with a few additions to meet local licensing requirement etc for my properties ) - so I am not sure what this message is asking me to do ?
Accept holding deposits from tenants who have not yet
I have not yet approved
I will be honest and feedback that it has made me very nervous about continuing to use openrents RENT NOW for future tenancies and has given me a feeling of being less in control of the process.
Can you please advise those of us using the service clearly .what autogenerated messages are sent and if necessary give us th option to opt out of the confusion they cause in landlord tenant comunications.
You don’t have full control of the letting process, namely:
You have to use MyDeposits rather than choose your own deposit scheme.
Deposits are not kept in your MyDeposits account but in OpenRent’s account (see here)
You might find yourself unable to evict using S21 when OpenRent refuse to sign an N215 (see here)
You sign paperwork before tenant pays first month’s rent and deposit which, for me and many others, introduces too great an element of risk for the LL.
Issues with holding deposits (see above)
More troubling is that issues 2-5 are ones that customers have only discovered inadvertently either when they run into an issue or they notice that something has been changed. OR has been notorious over the last year in changing it’s policies without informing any of its customers. The recent break with RightMove is the current case in point. So, while Rent Now might be all fine and dandy for you now, who knows what might be different in the future. Judging on their track record, OR are simply not going to inform you if they change part of the Rent Now process.