Where referencing is a mockery in these leaner times

[stavros1]

Just wanted to give some feedback on this scenario. Pretty fed up about it actually but ce la vie!
Two tenants, three months in arrears, serial non payers, verbally abusive, generally awful, wouldnt want any landlord to have dealings with them (see our post about the alleged damp in their flat), have been served notices etc, now apply to another letting agent to rent another home.
We happen to know and have a lot of time for this agent so we telephone them and give an honest reference bearing in mind our experiences with the tenant but despite this they are probably going to grant them the tenancy anyway,

I get the impression lean times, they just want to see a property let. I dont know.

so whats the point of referencing?? Whats the point of faxing a referencing form asking questions like
"would you rent to them again?"
"how was the tenancy conducted?"
"are there any arrears?"

It staggers me We all have our fair share of bad experiences with tenants just like landlords do surely if one agent is saying to another we do not recommend these tenants, that should be the end of it - tenancy declined ?
Here we are now going down the legal route to recover a lot of money in unpaid rent and I just dont want to see such tenants just walking into another property!

[Poppy]

By all means, answer referencing questions honestly and succinctly or state "no comment". Leave it at that.

Let the agents and prospective landlords decide how to handle these people.

By all means, use all possible legal means to obtain any money owed to you.

We can see that you're angry. Just stay focussed on the matters that actually concern you.

[Paul_f]

Just wanted to give some feedback on this scenario. Pretty fed up about it actually but ce la vie!
Two tenants, three months in arrears, serial non payers, verbally abusive, generally awful, wouldnt want any landlord to have dealings with them (see our post about the alleged damp in their flat), have been served notices etc, now apply to another letting agent to rent another home.
We happen to know and have a lot of time for this agent so we telephone them and give an honest reference bearing in mind our experiences with the tenant but despite this they are probably going to grant them the tenancy anyway,

I get the impression lean times, they just want to see a property let. I dont know.

so whats the point of referencing?? Whats the point of faxing a referencing form asking questions like
"would you rent to them again?"
"how was the tenancy conducted?"
"are there any arrears?"

It staggers me We all have our fair share of bad experiences with tenants just like landlords do surely if one agent is saying to another we do not recommend these tenants, that should be the end of it - tenancy declined ?
Here we are now going down the legal route to recover a lot of money in unpaid rent and I just dont want to see such tenants just walking into another property!As you can't protect anybody and everybody just protect yourselves; the other agent just might have some explaining to do. Move on!

[Bel]

But the upshot is at least they will walk away from yours, rather than sit tight and pay even less rent.

What will you do different next time as a result of this, is something that maybe you can ask yourself and learn from, so the pain is not completely wasted.

Also you may get other opportunities to put the boot in if you are asked for another reference at a later time.


If you cant change it, don't worry about it.

[stavros1]

Thanks guys, yes i know on the one hand, get them out, get the place re-let and hopefully with good tenants, but its just the frustration of someone in the same industry advertising the same "standards" just letting them rent a place knowing we've had nothing but grief!
I pity the landlord and dont pity the agent who, if it does go wrong again, will have some pretty good explaining to do!
Brings on another thought - i know some agents wont give the landlord access to their referencing, WE do. Its the landlord we work for and he has a right to see it. THerefore do it and do it right!

[humbleone]

It is fair to say that as the pool of suitable tenants decreases and stock rises, we are under pressure to accommodate those that would have been sent packing previously. The way I vet is as follows:
Initial meet, questions, make judgement,..... if happy then....
get landlords permission to vet... then....
Forms filled understanding of facts..... if happy then.....
Check facts, obtain references, credit checks..... then...

When all the information is gathered inform the landlord of the outcome. This is the critical bit, because if there are any negatives, as long as you have explained them to the landlord then make it their decision. Clearly if another agent says 'avoid' then I would not want my landlord going ahead, but the decision is theirs. Finally, if you are taking a chance with someone ALWAYs get a guarantor (this may be what they are doing here).

[stavros1]

The guarantor we had in place with their tenancy refuses to pay also! This brings on an issue with referencing generally. Of the hundreds of tenants we reference very rarely has anything been negative yet tenants turn bad!
If for example we had to give a reference, would we honestly give out one which we knew would come back negative? On one ocassion a tenant gave a previous landlord reference and that landlord had a very distinctive surname and it turned out the landlord was in fact another tenant of ours posing as a previous landlord!
So aside from a credit check one wonders how good referencing can really be sometimes. You are right - sometimes you have to go on gut instinct as well

[Bel]

The guarantor we had in place with their tenancy refuses to pay also! This brings on an issue with referencing generally. Of the hundreds of tenants we reference very rarely has anything been negative yet tenants turn bad!
If for example we had to give a reference, would we honestly give out one which we knew would come back negative? On one ocassion a tenant gave a previous landlord reference and that landlord had a very distinctive surname and it turned out the landlord was in fact another tenant of ours posing as a previous landlord!
So aside from a credit check one wonders how good referencing can really be sometimes. You are right - sometimes you have to go on gut instinct as well

You can always pay the 2 or £3 to do a land registry check on landlord to see if the name matches!

[Landlord007]

I as a landlord would be absolutely disgusted if an agent granted tenancy in these circumstances without my knowledge.

That's my two cents anyway.

James

[sully1]

After just going through the process of evicting a tenant I wouldn't be happy know that the agency is aware of something and not passing the information on. We did credit checks that came back ok on the tenant but she stupidly left lots of mail behind that states she owes nearly 10k to crdit card companies......how did she get a clean credit check. She also gave us a ref from her mother stating that she was living there before she came to us...total rubbish as she also left utility bills in her name from previous address(not her mothers) and unpaid council tax bills on the previous property!! Most gutting thing the council has rehoused her after she claimed housing benefit and didn;t pass it onto us....she told us she was working when she came to us and not on benefits!!!