Over the last few years I have had a set of tenants who have defaulted on payments and left several thousands of pounds in damage to my home. I eventually had to apply for a Section 21 to evict them. They were deliberately deceitful. Who can I report them to as bad tenants? They were also DHSS.
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For a start… no more dss… The tenant registry website.
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Good topic. Thanks Colin I’ve just joined tenantsregistry.co.uk after reading your reply.
I currently have a flat up for rent.
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Is this website still functional? It seems the search function isnt working
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I’ve just looked at this and found the same.
hi @dbrod2018, as a tenant’s previous landlord, you will usually have the opportunity to give a reference the next time a tenant is referenced by a landlord.
If the landlord does not order tenant referencing, then you won’t be asked, but a landlord who doesn’t order referencing is probably not the sort to care about your experiences anyway!
Hope that helps. Would avoid using websites like tenantsregistry.co.uk, since we know very little about them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just a way for a company to collect data on the landlords writing the reviews so they can target them with adverts later.
Sam
A bad tenant will get a mate to be a “landlord” and lie.
Thanks fior the advice!
Like many landlords I too have had a shocking experience with the tenants from hell which I took to court after costing me a figure close to six thousand pounds in damage and legal fees. However the burden of cost is quite heavily weighted to
Favour the tenant regardless of circumstance and I won the battle in recovering all my costs but lost the war in getting awarded the full amount of my claim. Pre-vetting referencing gives an advanced indication of who you may be dealing with provided they already have bad history but in this instance doesn’t indicate what they are going to be like in the future and even a clean bill of health can’t predict a problematic future. I would dearly wish to put both these vile tenants on a register to warn other Landlords however I’m wary of the legality of doing such action as once in writing the Tenant could re-appear to challenge the Statement and issue a damages claim against the adverse publicity leading to further hassle and cost in defending the action.
We had gone through similar situation like you (not DHSS tenants). Unfortunately, there is not much we can do! The government want to introduce database for bad landlords but do not really care about bad tenants 
We even have to pay large some for Landlord license!
At the moment we avoid DHSS tenants however it looks like we can not avoid them when the bank change their policy.
Sadly landlord especially the good ones are pushed from all corners. Waiting to see when Landlords sell most of their portfolio due to all these crazy changes, then the Government has to pay money to Landlord to take tenants when the supply is low (one day!)
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Thanks for your comments and understanding
What do you mean when you say" the bank change their policy" . What bank?
Yes I have a no DSS policy. have been hit similar 5 out of 7 times. Note the I have also been hit twice with non DSS. Total cost about 30k in 7 years all before using openrent credit check and when I was more innocent. Afraid it comes with territory.
Be firm on full credit check result. All this said, I’ve receny taken on one DSS who has clean no bad Mark’s and partner works and seems lovely. Wandsworth mitigating risk by a financial incentive. Time will tell if it’s a good one.
Openrent full credit check protects you to a great extent. Use it. But be aware there will always be risk.
Thanks for your advice and understanding
Some banks have changed their policy about whom to rent (some now allow DSS tenants) due to the pressure from the Government and other groups. Some banks still have not changed their policy. Since our banks have not changed their policy, our reason is “sorry bank’s policy not to take DSS tenants”. Sadly, time after time, DSS tenants (there are extremely exceptionally good ones) have proven that they do not care about the property they live in (I am guessing when it is free, they do not know the value). It is very hard to evict them (Council think that Landlord should give them accommodation when these tenants do not even pay. Who then pay the landlord’s mortgage!?).
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I don’t quite understand what you mean regarding “the Banks” surely it’s the case that the property insurance insist on working tenants which is the question I get asked each time by insurance companies when I’m insuring my properties …
When is all this pressure going to end ? We are told not to discriminate against DSS So the government are attempting to force us to allow non working people into our houses by challenging the wording when we advertise a vacant property and if we refuse DSS access to rent it will become a hate crime !!! and if Labour gain power we are told that we have to sell our investment to the tenant if he/she wants to buy it at a discounted price, why don’t we all just give up our rights to what we OWN and sign our hard earned investments over to the stupid governments who are trying to steal our properties from us. . The next thing they will do is offer tax relief to landlords on DSS tenants and tax hikes on landlords housing working tenants with rent caps in place to stop us offsetting the levy!!! Has the world gone totally mad!!
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You don’t need to advertise no HB / DHSS, simply apply stringent conditions to accepting them.
I insist upon the bond and 1st months rent in advance and a guarantor. So effectively they are no different to a working tenant with bad credit, needing to provide a guarantor. Even if they comply with all the conditions, it is still ultimately up to you who you accept on your tenancy, and you can reject them at the preliminary telephone interview or viewing stage if you do not feel comfortable with them or their circumstances.
I only relax these rules in the case of cash bonds, which I allow to be replaced by the Housing charities who will provide bond guarantees to applicants with no money for a bond.
I have had a few good experiences with HB tenants, likewise I have had bad, but then as a ratio I would probably say it’s not a great deal different to the working tenants. So I would argue that you are no worse off with HB / DSS, and maybe even better off if you obtain a financially secure guarantor. You need to be broad minded about HB / DSS, because there are genuine cases of decent people who’ve fallen on hard times and need a bit of help, not all are wasters and youths who want the taxpayer to pay for them to leave home.
I would also suggest a guarantor is mandatory for all tenants in view of the totally inadequate limitations on bonds set by recent legislation. We need to follow in the USA’s footsteps - 1st & last month’s rent + 1 month bond, to be anywhere near covered for the all too regular miscreants. Oh for that to be the norm, wishful thinking…
Regarding a tenant register, assuming most complaints against tenants are due to unpaid rent and dilapidations, simply apply a CCJ, relatively easy online and nominal cost, such that it shows up on their next application/ references. Working on a law of averages you will also, on occasions, get someone who cannot live with CCJ’s on their credit history and they will pay it off, thereby providing a pot to pay for future CCJ’s, if you consider the successes to be a bonus anyway.
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Thank you for your very useful advice!
You’re very welcome. Anything to help landlords get ahead of the game, and restrict the plague of bad tenants.
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Tenant referencing hold a database of bad tenants. All totally legal they’ve said. Take a look. The more people that add to it, the more useful it becomes.
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