Letting to someone from abroad..?

Badger_Lady · 27 March 2008 at 11:27AM

I've started letting out rooms in my house (have already had advice about HMO's etc before we start going down that road!)...

I was contacted by a man from Mauritius (sp?) Island, who is moving to the UK in a couple of weeks and is desperately seeking accommodation. We've spoken on the phone, texted and emailed - he's sent over his security deposit and I'm waiting for his application form, which asks for details of employment etc.

Alarm bells started ringing when he said: "I paid by the western union. I said to them that you are my cousin cause if I told them that I intend to send the money to reserve a room, they will ask me a lot question and that I will have to provide them some document for some security reason, excuse me!"

Now, I have a great respect and sympathy for someone trying to arrange accommodation from abroad and at short notice, and therefore want to be as helpful as possible (not discount him purely due to his nationality)...however I certainly don't want to be party to any kind of dodgy activity.

Is there any risk here, or any additional checks that I should carry out? I certainly intend to contact his employer for a "reference" once I recieve details of it (and reserve the right to return his deposit if there's a problem), but what else should I do to protect myself?

Badger_Lady · 27 March 2008 at 1:09PM

Well, his application form arrived with only details of his employer in Mauritius, so I've asked him for information about his UK work/study. He's asked for a fixed contract of 1 year, so I assume he's got some plans!

Anything I should watch out for? I'm really nervous as it's my first time letting, as well as being slightly unusual! I've also had several queries from local guys who would be so much easier to let to...

BobProperty · 27 March 2008 at 1:41PM

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Anything I should watch out for? I'm really nervous as it's my first time letting, as well as being slightly unusual! I've also had several queries from local guys who would be so much easier to let to...

Just don't do it then. I'd be asking my even more techie mates to decipher the info in the email header as one check. Won't he need some sort of Visa or work permit to come to the UK? Ask for a copy of that and check it out.

G-G_4 · 27 March 2008 at 1:47PM

Could be a form of money laundering.

1) He sends you money by Western Union, possibly stolen account used, or stolen bank details.
2) He eventually relises he can't make it to the UK.. (Insert variety of reasons)
3) Ask for his money back.

I would definately not go for this. For a start you won't get to meet him before he moves it, so what if you don't like him?

jimc_2 · 27 March 2008 at 2:08PM

For information about how deposit scams work, see the Criminal Overpayment and False Deposit scam descriptions in the Security Centre of this site. Having said that, this does NOT sound like the normal mechanism which asks you to SEND money by Western Union not to receive it. Have you definitely received the cash? Is it safe in your hands now? In what form is the deposit now? Hard cash?

If so, the only remaining possibility I can see is the Money Laundering already mentioned but the amount would seem out of scale for this activity. It's normally thousands of Pounds to make it worthwhile.

If the money is now in hard cash and safe in your hands the only thing to beware of (apart from an unsuitable tenant) is requests (or demands) to return the money for no defined reason. If this happens go to the police immediately.

Just do as many checks as you can about the tenant's intended activities once here and immigration/employment status etc.

clutton_2 · 27 March 2008 at 2:14PM

only offer 6 months - this makes it easier to get rid of him if he turns out to be unsuitable.

BUT - if this is your first attempt at letting, i would sincerely advise you to start with prospective tenants who live more locally and who you can check up on much more easily - have you used the www.landlordzone.co.uk Tenancy Application Form - that is a very comprehensive document, and if someone is not happy to complete it all, and provide all the back-up documentation, i would be asking "why - and what do they have to hide ?"

if your gut instinct is saying "no" - trust it - and say no to this person and find someone else.

pinkshoes · 27 March 2008 at 2:21PM

The Western Union's web page says:

Discontinue any transaction if someone coaches you on how to respond to questions asked by Western Union. This is a sure sign of fraud.

So given the guy has lied about why he's sending the money, saying you are his cousin, I would say that fits with the above.

On the basis that this guy has lied, I would not rent to him.

http://www.westernunion.com/WUCOMWEB/staticMid.do?method=load&pagename=fraudTips

Badger_Lady · 27 March 2008 at 2:21PM

Thanks all - he would just be lodging with me (and my two other local lodgers), so I've used the appropriate documents from landlordzone.

I have been aware of deposit scams before and, as jimc says, it doesn't fit the usual template - I think this guy is genuinely trying to get to the UK but I'm worried about whether he should! I haven't been to the bank yet to check the money's arrived (darn PINsentry makes it too hard to check online!), but he has provided a reference number so that I can look it up this afternoon.

His reply has just come back as this:

"Once in UK I will search for work cause it very difficult to find a work without been in england for the interview. Here the ambassade of UK in Mauritius give me some delay to find work in UK and are going to give me a visa of one year (working holiday). Here in mauritius I worked for a long time to have all including the pocket money to afford myself in UK. Thanks for your understanding"

It all sounds quite genuine and like a lot of hard work! Any ideas how I can check out the Visa? I'd ideally like to get some sort of reference from the UK Ambassador..?

(Oh, and PS, do you think I should point out that I don't live in England?

)

clutton_2 · 27 March 2008 at 2:41PM

""are going to give me a visa of one year"" - not "have given me a visa"

i'd wait till its "Have given me" has materialised

have you thought about phoning Immigration to ask for guidance on this ?

Badger_Lady · 27 March 2008 at 3:11PM

clutton wrote: »

have you thought about phoning Immigration to ask for guidance on this ?

Just spent an age on the phone to them... all they could say was:
- Yes, a one-year touring Visa does exist
- No, you can't check up anything about the specific individual
- When he arrives, he'll have a Visa in his passport. But nothing before then.

chappers · 27 March 2008 at 3:45PM

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Just spent an age on the phone to them... all they could say was:
- Yes, a one-year touring Visa does exist
- No, you can't check up anything about the specific individual
- When he arrives, he'll have a Visa in his passport. But nothing before then.

I would e-mail him back and explain your concerns and ask him to e-mail you a copy of his Visa as soon as he gets it.

Letting to someone from abroad..?

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free