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mrdeepee
Posts: 28 Forumite
My sister is considering renting from a Letting Agency but is concerned about the credit checks they all insist on carrying out as part of the letting process.
She's had problems with debts in the past but has had arrangements with all her creditors for the past 4 years to make reduced payments, and she's had no worries in all this time. However, these arrangements are reflected on her credit file and this means that she has a very poor credit rating. She doesn't have any CCJs or IVAs and has never been declared bankrupt.
She has been renting privately but now needs to move closer to her work but can't find any suitable properties to rent privately. She's now forced to consider going with Letting Agencies but she's a bit worried about them doing a credit check, seeing that she has a poor credit rating and then refusing her the let. She'll also lose the almost £200 admin fee she'll be charged for the credit check and reference process.
So, my question is, does anyone know what letting agents look out for in a credit file that will cause them to refuse letting a property to a tenant?
She's had problems with debts in the past but has had arrangements with all her creditors for the past 4 years to make reduced payments, and she's had no worries in all this time. However, these arrangements are reflected on her credit file and this means that she has a very poor credit rating. She doesn't have any CCJs or IVAs and has never been declared bankrupt.
She has been renting privately but now needs to move closer to her work but can't find any suitable properties to rent privately. She's now forced to consider going with Letting Agencies but she's a bit worried about them doing a credit check, seeing that she has a poor credit rating and then refusing her the let. She'll also lose the almost £200 admin fee she'll be charged for the credit check and reference process.
So, my question is, does anyone know what letting agents look out for in a credit file that will cause them to refuse letting a property to a tenant?
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Comments
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This link is to an 'old' page from one letting agency - see in particular What minimum referencing criteria need to be met?
http://web.archive.org/web/20090228073709/http://www.movingspace.com/tenants/first/Life should be a little nuts; otherwise it's just a bunch of Thursdays strung together.0 -
I'd hope they'd look for the same sorts of things as the landlord they are acting for! And any sensible landlord not using an agency would do these checks too - I certainly do.
First - get copies of her credit reports from Experian etc to see what's on there.
Second - be honest from the start. State what credit problems there are and what is on the file. Then ask if those items will preclude renting. If the answer is 'yes', save the application fee!
Third - if the agency says "that's fine as long as there's nothing else" get that in writing. ie added to the receipt for the admin fee, together with a statement that in those circumstances the fee is refundable. If subsequently the landlord or agent declines her application despite having found nothing additional, she should demand her fee back, quoting the statement on the receipt. (of course, if the credit search shows up an undeclared bankrupcy, tht's different!)0 -
A £60 fee?0
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Letting agents and landlords can only access the public information on your credit report, so I've you've had no court judgments or insolvencies you shouldn't have a problem with credit checks. Your actual credit history data is only visible to banks and other lenders.
James Jones“Official Company Representative
I am an official company representative of Experian. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE"
Posts by James Jones, Neil Stone, Stuart Storey & Joe Standen0 -
Experian_company_representative wrote: »Letting agents and landlords can only access the public information on your credit report, so I've you've had no court judgments or insolvencies you shouldn't have a problem with credit checks. Your actual credit history data is only visible to banks and other lenders.
James Jones
Many thanks for your post. It makes sense that non-lenders who themselves don't provide credit information to credit reference agencies, aren't able to see non-public credit info of their customers.0
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