Pre-screening the landlords

Tenant Discussion
1

The premise
I’ve rented through OpenRent a few times. Most have been great, my current landlord nort so. My deposit has has not been properly deposited in escrow. I now dont want to deal with any landlord that doesnt want to use the RentNow functionality on this site.

I understand there is no requirement to use it to use this site ‘properly’. I just wonder why a tax write off expense shouldn’t go through a third-party service (not necessarily this one)?

I keep getting a set of buttons served up to me to pre-screeen. We’ve all seen them.

My point: Why can’t we have the same for landlords? So we know if we want to deal with this individual? Irrespective of whether we mathch their criteria, do they match ours?

I propose we set out a bunch of questions for the landlord that they shouyld answer to pre-screen them for the tennant.

I’m gonna start with two I’m thinking of this late at night

2

And I’ll propose #1 from myself

1. Do you use RentNow? If not why not?
Seriously, why dont you want someone else to make the legal bits work? Are you a lawyer? You can write the cost off against tax ffs. So how much less will you do for me as a tennant?

But, if there’a a good reason for it (that’s not cutting corners that we’ll have to live with), would be good to know

3

2. Has a previous tennant taken you to court?

Pretty self explanatory

4

3. Is that the price you want or are you a chancer?

Might need some diplomatic wording

5

I never use rent now as a landlord. It takes away control from me. I do things better and am more reliable! I use openrent solely for marketing.

I like to understand each aspect of the process and be able to deal with it rather than be dependent on often inaccessible strangers.

As for asking “are you a lawyer”, are estate agents lawyers?

The extra cost of rent now is negligible.

A simple review system could work, but unless implemented well they can be abused.

6

I’m not against screening questions for LL, a fundamental flaw though is that where a tenants lie will get discovered later on in the referencing and checking process, a landlords lie wouldn’t be.

1 Like
7

I’m the same as @Mark10. I am a nationally accredited landlord and do things properly. I think youve alighted on the wrong solution and are likely to limit your options, but its up to you.

8

you certainly will need diplomatic wording I was once asked by an insulation customer, was I on the fiddle wanting cash off him. I took the insulation off his flatbed .Opened the gates, and told him as he had insulted me I would not sell to him … he had come 70 miles Likewise Landlord and Tenant must respect each other. If I was asked am I a chancer the applicant will be out the door.

9

While I agree with the general concept of landlord checks, I think you may have incorrectly assumed that all “good” landlords use RentNow and all “bad” landlords don’t use this function. RentNow is merely one option to arrange the tenancy, and not all landlords want this. RentNow does not have a bearing on how good/bad a landlord is. The question of rent levels/pricing for your third question is rather irrelevant as “chancer” landlords are hardly going to answer this if they were. The vast majority of rent pricing is determined by market factors (supply/demand) which are not within landlords’ control, and as Colin says, you risk insulting potential landlords with such a question. You can always gauge rent levels by looking at the rents for similar properties in similar areas. On another note, you should be reporting your current landlord for not protecting your deposit correctly.

10

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.