Hi there, I have more than one potential new tenant and am not sure which one to go with. Should I start the referencing process on both simultaneously and see where that leads to amd will that also check credit worthiness? Subsequently, I should hopefully be able to make a better decision hopefully on the contents of the referencing results? Any guidance appreciated.
Hi , im a retired 66 year old on state pension
I will have help towards my rent and council tax
also will pay by Direct debit with my rent.
Do one at a time do you do your first choice
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if they’re really equal on everything you’ve got so far, then do first come first served which is the fairest way to progress.
when I have a number of people that could potentially take the tenancy, I inform them where they are in the queue and keep them up to date with progress on the application in hand. I advise them to keep looking because I don’t want them to waste time if another applicant qualifies before they get their chance.
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Thanks again. The system/process does not seem very clear to me. I selected the Start Referencing option with the first couple. I cannot ascertain through the portal whether both halves of the couple are being referenced or just the lead person. Also, the applicants are not moving very quickly. I can only tell by checking my emails that they are actively engaging with the referencing process at all. I did send them the Put a Deposit down but they don’t seem to have seen it. Should they put down a deposit and set a possible moving in day at this point anyway?
Ive never had a problem with this. Its always been very clear & flowed through the process.
Prospective tenant places holding deposit. As part of this process they fill ‘who will be the tenants’. Once they have done this you select which one of those tenants you wish to reference & what level of reference you require on each.
Once references are finished, you select whether you wish to proceed or not, and either decline the application or accept & proceed to referencing.
If you have started referencing without taking a holding deposit this is fine, but you should be able to see the reference status on your OR portal. References via openrent don’t take many days and sometimes only hours. If your tenant isn’t acting quickly to provide the details, dump them off & proceed with the other.
Hi there, I’m in a similar position with 2 different tenants wanting the property. Were you able to reference both at the same time? Then make your choice?
Grateful for any pearls!
You can reference more than one, but its not usual. You cant take a holding deposit from more than one.
Hi all,
As a tenant, I’d probably expect that receiving a reference request meant I was set to take on the property.
I would be inclined to refer to 3 of the 7 GDPR principles though they are applied broadly rather than in a landlord context:
Purpose limitation.
Data minimisation.
Storage limitation.
My thinking from this is that if you are only going to take on one tenant, you should ideally only credit check one tenant, otherwise you might risk breaching the first two points. The third point is about not keeping the information on file past the point of usefulness ( I’d like to think this is when you’ve checked it’s ok) they certainly shouldn’t lurk in email accounts etc.
Your credit check only confirms what you have asked the tenant informally, naturally if something unexpected comes up (assuming it’s a tenant giving miss information and not fraud or issues with the record) you may then decline their application and check the next person but assuming there is nothing on there that hasn’t been declared I would personally expect that to be an agreement.
Let me know if I’ve not considered something.
Thanks for your input.
I think you make a good point. Tenant referencing is by necessity one of the most intrusive processes of any business and should not be undertaken lightly.
That doesn’t make sense… you mention referencing at the start and end of the process.
Last ‘referencing’, should read ‘issue contract’.
post too old to edit now
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