Hi, I have placed a holding deposit over a week ago. The landlords told me they don’t want to use that service. I am going to rent the house n going to meet the landlords next week to sign contract n get key. However, they told me that I have to pay the full deposit directly to them when I sign the contract n they didn’t want me to use Rent Now. I used it because Open Rent offered it n I wanted to secure the tenancy, as the landlords were not easy to contact at the time. What do I have to do now to claim my Rent Now money back?
Hi Kersty,
Not every landlord will want to use Rent Now, which isn’t anything to worry about. If the tenancy is proceeding off-platform the landlord can cancel the application and this will refund your holding deposit. The first port of call would be getting in touch with them directly so they can do this.
We always recommend use of our Rent Now service (free to tenants) to pay money to OpenRent, so that we can protect the deposit and release rent only after move-in. When money is being paid to a private individual we always recommend taking proof of identity and a clear written agreement of how money will be treated. We also explicitly warn tenants not to hand over money directly to a private individual.
If anything remains unclear please get in touch with one of the team at https://www.openrent.co.uk/faq#i-have-more-questions.
Kind Regards,
George
I would be very wary as I’ve rented lots and been a landlord and my understanding of it is that you have to put the deposit in the DPS (deposit protection scheme) by law so that it’s safe. That’s what we were told as landlords and have done as a tenant, you get a log in once it’s done, but it (as far as I’m aware) is the landlords legal requirement to do that.
I’m always wary of things that don’t feel right as I’ve had bad dealings with tenants and landlords.
I know that there are a lot of scams out there and it can be incredibly expensive and difficult to recover monies that you have paid or you’re owed (we had tenants that owed us £1000’s and I’ve had a management company take some of my deposit when a double glazed windows handle fell off due to bad manufacturers without the landlords consent, thankfully I had the landlords number so it wasn’t taken and she stopped using the management company.
Be shrewd, maybe I’m being over cautious, go with your gut, if it doesn’t feel right it often isn’t (not always).
Good luck X
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Thank you, George n Lydia for your help. I am pleased to say that I have received a refund. I have paid the deposit directly as the landlord asked n have got the house! All is well.
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