Hi, I wonder if you could offer insight on this prospective tenant…
The tenant in question hasn’t physically seen the property yet but the photos and video seems to tick all her boxes and she knows the area well. She has a partner who has a job overseas (in NYC) and she is currently at home in Poland but returning to the UK on 20/09 with her 16 month old. She doesn’t plan to work until her son is a couple of years older, and says she’s supported financially by her partner and her mother.
She has settled status and seemingly wants to secure the property by putting down a deposit. She has even offered to rent the flat at £100 more a month than the advertised rent! There are so many alarm bells ringing but…
I spoke with her on the phone and she seems extremely genuine, very nice even
she has offered to pay 9 months rent up front in exchange for a 2 year agreement but with an 18 month break clause
she will pay rent up front on a rolling basis
she has lived in the UK for the past six years at three separate properties, two of which (over a five year period) were introduced by LifeResidential in London
she has provided copies of tenancy agreements confirming the same, in addition to copies of bank statements confirming the rent has gone out of her account
I will of course go through formal channels to obtain references, especially those via the estate agent to confirm rent was paid, etc, but she will of course fail the financials given her lack of a job. I’m relatively new to being a landlord (one year) and very much want to trust her, but at the same time if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is, right?
That being said, she’s gone to a lot of time to evidence her seemingly good rental history, and what could possibly be her angle if she was trying to dupe me? Has anyone come up against anything like this before?
Thanks for reading and look forward to hearing any thoughts!
The bank statements show that they’re coming from her mums account in Poland (ING Bank) and she’s provided statements confirming the rental payments since 2015. The problem is even if her mum were to be guarantor, how easy would it be to enforce the agreement given that she’s based in Poland?
What information would you get about the partner and mum given that they’re not on the lease?
Not really sure what you mean re the last point - apologies again, but i’m fairly new to this. Is it not simply a case of her wanting to have a clause to break after two payment periods?
So, you have no legal recourse on the mother in Poland. I’d stay clear of her.
So, when you say “after two periods”, are you specifying in the contract that she pays 9 months rent each time instead of one advance payment of 9 months and subsequently monthly?
For you, it might be complicated to have a break clause at 18 months - what if, for whatever reason, you want to evict her? Would you want to wait 18 months?
The partner (and mother, but I wouldn’t) must be a party to the contract if you consider them. As guarantors, they sign the contract. You check them the same way you check a tenant:
Yes, she’s willing to pay 9 months twice, followed by a 6 month payment, and assuming it’s renewed, in six month periods thereafter.
Agreed, it seems highly unlikely that i’d be able to recover rent from someone who lives in Poland, and so would be a pointless exercise to include her mother. So i’m therefore basing a decision on a seemingly proven track record of her paying rent on time and without default, over a six year period.
The partner is something to explore as he does have ties to the UK.