HiI have a couple interested in my property please correct me it iim wrong would I only request a guarantor if they fall referencing?
Yes that is correct. Although some landlords choose not to have grantors in which case they would just move onto the next potential tenant
Its up to you. It’s personal preference. You are self managing.. you get to make your own decisions.
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With RRB coming in make sure they all have a guarantor
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Unfortunately, i would have to reject a prospective tenant that failed reference, guarantor or not. This is sad, but practical.
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What aspect of referencing did they fail?
I haven’t done any references yet just planning ahead at the moment.
Is open rent referencing as good as any? I do have NRLA membership too
planning ahead with references means not referencing until you are sure they will pass. Prior to actually paying for referencing, for example, I always:
- get 6 months of bank statements (including any savings accounts) and go over them in detail looking in particular for any large loan payments, regular income payments, how close they come to zero each month, spending on things that might flag issues (lots of gambling, pet insurance when they say they have no pets), whether they’re saving regularly
- contact their employer and ask for verification of their employment status, contract length, salary
- if available contact a previous landlord (not current) and ask for proof of let (e.g. copy of AST front page) and whether any outstanding issues
- meet them in person at the property to get a vibe from them and to see what kind of questions they ask about the property / things they say about it (e.g. one applicant said “this room’ll be great for when my partner’s teenage kids come over when he’s back from off-shore” which raised a flag as they hadn’t mentioned a partner living with them at all prior to this)
Unless they get through all this without any flags being raised, I don’t take it to referencing. IOW, by the time I pay for referencing, they’re going to pass unless they’ve lied about a CCJ or something like that.
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I should have added that if they’re on benefits (which all my tenants are in some form), I ask for written confirmation of the benefit they’ve been granted.
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I’ve just had a very bad experience with a tenant who I’m in the process of evicting. I wish I had done what you’re recommending @tatemono. Do all tenants comply with your own referencing requirements outlined here or do some refuse?
I’ve never had one refuse in 28 years of letting. But if they did, they’d be out of the running immediately.
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Thanks for that, very grateful.
N R L A have a useful tenant application form. I always get tenants to complete it before referencing them. It serves a number of useful purposes, one of which is to ask about CCJs, IVAs etc.
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I wouldn’t proceed if they fail referencing. As I want to take insurance for rent and legal for first twelve months. I have gone with my gut in the past, but with the new regulations you need to insure also. But do use your gut to judge people. Don’t put someone into a property if you have any doubts, even if they pass referencing and have a guarantor.
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I have asked for a guarantor when it fails and I like them.
One instance was when the person had defaulted on not paying her phone contract and had a CCJ.
Later on the guarantor was needed because she stopped paying rent during COVID, and when the guarantor was approached started paying again.
I’ve had someone offer me 6/12m rent upfront. Single parent references but no guarantor hence the upfront payment.
Has anyone does this? and if so how did you collect the rent though open rent?
Don’t do this,
How will you collect future rents
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I would assume via bank transfer however I am quite reluctant as after the 6/12 month they could stop paying all together.
precisely… which is why I have never ever accepted an offer to pay more than 1 month’s rent up front. Any more than that is shortly to be made illegal anyway.
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