We chose a tenant for our property, and are just getting to the tenancy agreement and rent payment. The council will be paying their deposit.
The council can’t progress the deposit payment until we confirm that all other payments (ie the first rent) is paid. My understanding is that through openrent, you to the contract signing, the first payment and the deposit payment all at the same time - so how does this work with the council not being able to pay till after the other payments are confirmed?
Do we just sort the deposit a little later? Is that an option in the system? As it the council i feel pretty secure about it coming.
Thanks in advance for advice, to what might be a confused question!
The applicant will need to pay the 1 week holding deposit in advance. There is no option to this. This must be paid by card to via openrent.
Once the contract has been signed, the tenant will be responsible to paying the 1st months rent (less the holding deposit already paid), and security deposit directly to Openrent. This can be paid by Bank transfer. This does not have to be paid ‘all in one go’, so the tenant could pay the 1st months rent, and then you can provide confirmation to the council that this has happened, and then the secutity deposit can be paid later.
Thank you. Again! Can i be cheeky and ask another question? Its about PAT testing? Openrent won’t let me proceed without saying i have had electrics PAT tested. The fridge & the oven are new, so surely i don’t need to pay for the tests separately?
I had the same issue recently. How I got around it was to add an addendum to the tenancy gifting the fridge/freezer to the tenants. Good tenants that had been in the property for two years. I wanted to get them on Open Rent. In your situation I believe a PAT test isn’t required for new items for the first year.
Just as an aside have you ever tried to get money back from the council?
Whose name is the deposit in?
If the money is a third party’s that has to be declared on the deposit paperwork
I was advised by experienced landlords never to take a tenant that could not pay their own deposit or that used the council to pay for it because you’ll never get your money back if you need it
Those that were stung advised against it from their own experience
Thanks Karl. Its got a bit more complicated as the council will only give the money to an account that i provide details of. I think the way i can do it is if the tenant forwards the bank details that openrent sends her, as i cant seem to get them directly from openrent! Seems quite complicated for what is surely not that uncommon…
But surely this must happen all the time? The council is paying the deposit or the first rent, and deposit seemed logical but Openrent dont make it easy really. It makes me wish i hadnt used them for this bit!
It does happen but experienced landlords know better
A lot of the time you are being asked to house tenants the council don’t want to so they make the terms favourable
If you are new you’ll not know any better
If this was me I’d walk away and find a tenant
I think i have worked it out now to be fair. It would just be helpful to have a guide to working with the council as they didn’t know and I didn’t know. Hopefully its ok though - thanks for your advice!
I had a similar client from LA, but OpenRent didn’t have the option to sign the contract without full payment. We used a different contract instead. The LA client provided written confirmation of the first month’s rent and deposit, and made the payment within a week.
Openrent DO provide the option to sign the contract without full payment. The contract is signed, and then the full payment need not be paid until just before move in. No payment is required in advance of signing nor at the immediate time of signing.
I’ve then had tenants pay split the payment into more than one, hence x2 partial payments, so this must be possible. FULL payment must be paid by move in but is ca be split into multiple partial payments.
I took a council deposit once 20 years ago. It was a mistake, never again. Have nothing to do with councils as colin3 said. The tenants clearly have no means and once in its your problem if non payment or chronic late payment happens. after the renters reform act becomes law this month goodness knows.
Mind you some need the actual experience to learn this.
No one provide contract for me. You as a landlord join NRLA and they will provide you with contract and also help line to ask any questions.
No one hold my Deposites. Just join my deposit.com and hold your Deposites yourself (insured landlord deposit) and the certificate will be issued by my Deposite.
Do NOooot take any council tenants. You will loose a lot especially at the end when you need your flat for any reason (antisocial behaviour, nasty tenants or non payment of rent, or even to sell) it will take you 3 years in court to evict them and you will really suffer as the council tell the tenants DO NOT LEAVE UNTIL THE BAILIFFS COME OTHERWISE YOU WILL BE INTENTIONALLY HOMELESS. Oh god.. council tenants!! I lost severely when I accepted council tenants!!