Referencing German tenants??

[Rebecca]

We're renting out our own flat in couple of weeks time. A German couple have just been to look and seem very keen. They're both self employed, running their own company and have only been in London for a month. They seemed very nice and reliable, but we're wondering how to credit check / reference them. Does anyone know? Thanks for your help in advance!

[Paul_f]

You won't be able to do so to any satisfactory level so suggest you take the full term rent in advance if you really want them, and a dilapidations deposit of two months rent too - yes!

If you were to use a reference agency [avilable on this site] you would normally be able to insure against their not paying rent, but not in this case.

You could ask for a guarantor but they should be UK based and otherwise be acceptable as though they were the tenants themselves and referenced accordingly.

I know they might seem "nice" people but you can't compromise your situation without possible problems.

[Rebecca]

Mmm, thanks for that Paul. It's made me think more realistically!
90% of the people who've looked round have been foreign (nearly all Eastern European) & only been in London for a couple of months, so i thought German references would be easier!

[missel]

Hi there

My tenants are all germans, and have never had any problem .
However as paul said it would be better to use that credit reference agency just in case....