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UK Tenant Data

hfguk
hfguk Posts: 1 Newbie
in House buying, renting & selling
Is UK Tenant Data a legitimate and trustworthy organisation? Anyone has experience with them?

I have been asked to supply very detailed personal information to this organisation in order to provide guarantee for a student. Is this normal practice? I am really worrying about identity fraud.

Any advice and information will be highly appreciated.
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Comments

  • Pixie5740
    Pixie5740 Posts: 14,515 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    hfguk wrote: »
    Is UK Tenant Data a legitimate and trustworthy organisation? Anyone has experience with them?

    I have been asked to supply very detailed personal information to this organisation in order to provide guarantee for a student. Is this normal practice? I am really worrying about identity fraud.

    Any advice and information will be highly appreciated.

    Yes, UK Tenant Data is a legitimate company used to reference prospective tenants and their guarantors. I assume that either the letting agent or landlord has asked you to supply this information so why would you think that either the letting agent or landlord are trying to steal your identity?
  • theartfullodger
    theartfullodger Posts: 14,588 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    edited 18 May 2017 at 11:31AM
    Well, it's a registered UK company:

    However

    - share capital £10 (so it it all goes wrong that's all that may be paid to creditors...)

    - the sole director is director of 4 companies, 2 of which are in liquidation
    https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/Ro0bM7nhJRP4Kpk8CJMjC0jZUgQ/appointments
    (bit of unfortunate track record, doesn't exactly inspire confidence...)

    - There's already been one attempt to compulsory strike the company off, usually indication of something not being done right, see..
    https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/06842132/filing-history

    The most recent accounts show an interest-free, unsecured loan of more than £200k being made to the sole director.

    Were these the sole evidence of the probity of a prospective tenant (or landlord, or agent..) I'd not do business with them...

    In your case I'd decline to provide info to this mob, but be prepared to deal direct with whoever is the actual landlord. (Just my view mind..)

    Cheers!
  • Good_Advice_2
    Good_Advice_2 Posts: 2 Newbie
    edited 20 May 2017 at 10:30AM
    Bad advice from the artful dodger

    It is a good idea that before you offer advice, you seek out the correct facts and have a clear understanding of the mechanics of limited entities.

    You clearly have no understanding of the types of liquidations! Please look up MVL, this stands for "members voluntary liquidation and is initiated by the shareholders within the company. In this case the company in question was 20 years old and liquidated to release the cash and assets within in the company, not uncommon if the shareholders of the company retire as this is the most tax efficient method of getting the cash out of a company and benefits from ER relief (you may wish to look this up too!) The 200k loan is academic, it's the fact the company can afford to do this in the first instance and will sit on the balance sheet as an asset of the company, again a very positive cash position, so again you basic understanding is so limited it's borderline ridiculous.

    Top tip: Don't post things you clearly have no idea about and refrain from copying and pasting links to legitimate sources that you have no understanding of. Offering up advice to people in the public domain should only undertaken by a professional, something you are clearly not, and could adversely affect the person on the receiving end of it!
  • IAmWales
    IAmWales Posts: 2,024 Forumite
    Good_Advice wrote: »
    Bad advice from the artful dodger

    It is a good idea that before you offer advice, you seek out the correct facts and have a clear understanding of the mechanics of limited entities.

    You clearly have no understanding of the types of liquidations! Please look up MVL, this stands for "members voluntary liquidation and is initiated by the shareholders within the company. In this case the company in question was 20 years old and liquidated to release the cash and assets within in the company, not uncommon if the shareholders of the company retire as this is the most tax efficient method of getting the cash out of a company and benefits from ER relief (you may wish to look this up too!) The 200k loan is academic, it's the fact the company can afford to do this in the first instance and will sit on the balance sheet as an asset of the company, again a very positive cash position, so again you basic understanding is so limited it's borderline ridiculous.

    Top tip: Don't post things you clearly have no idea about and refrain from copying and pasting links to legitimate sources that you have no understanding of. Offering up advice to people in the public domain should only undertaken by a professional, something you are clearly not, and could adversely affect the person on the receiving end of it!

    Wow, what a way to make a good impression on your first post!

    This is an open forum and anyone is free to post as they wish (within the forum rules). Please don't attempt to dictate what others may post, especially to respected members like artful. It's unlikely to go down well!
  • unforeseen
    unforeseen Posts: 7,280 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    I wonder why a first time poster is defending the company so strongly?

    Just saying
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    unforeseen wrote: »
    I wonder why a first time poster is defending the company so strongly?

    Just saying

    Indeed, though they have a point about the relevance of the comments to the OP's query - the company will do the credit checking and be on their way, nobody is trying to assess their covenant.
  • Good_Advice_2
    Good_Advice_2 Posts: 2 Newbie
    edited 20 May 2017 at 11:27AM
    To be clear, I'm a landlord and came across this post when researching a company to undertake references for my tenants.

    I don't normally post on any forums, simply don't have the time or inclination to post things. Although in this case, as in most cases on this type of forum people to offer opinions/advice on things they clearly have no understanding of, this I find odd!

    The tax bit! A loan to a shareholder from the company if not repaid within that tax year will, will generate a corporation tax liability for the company. The shareholder will pay statutory interest as a benefit in kind through their P11D tax declaration. So in short the full tax liability for any amount borrowed is deferred at best until this is repaid by the shareholder. When repaid the company will receive a tax refund for the corporation tax they paid on the shareholder/directors overdrawn DLA.

    Moving forward these types of loans are no longer an option as an overdrawn DLA account attracts full dividend tax and not the basic rate of corporation tax.

    So to to help you understand this method of borrowing, it merely defers the personal tax liability for the sharholder/director. Another thing to consider is that there will be a HMRC debtor sat on the balance sheet in this case owing the company in excess of £40K when the DLA is repaid.

    I hope that's cleared that up, and please don't take this comment as troll like-not my style, I just don't like misleading information.

    Promise not to post ever again.

    All have a great weekend!!
  • LandyAndy
    LandyAndy Posts: 26,377 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    Good_Advice wrote: »
    Bad advice from the artful dodger......

    blah, blah, blah....

    It is a good idea that before you offer advice, you seek out the correct facts and have a clear understanding of the mechanics of limited entities.

    receiving end of it!
    Good_Advice wrote: »
    To be clear, ........

    blah, blah, blah........

    Promise not to post ever again.

    All have a great weekend!!

    Shame, because what you wrote was clear and accurate.

    Our loss, I suppose.
  • theartfullodger
    theartfullodger Posts: 14,588 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Good_Advice wrote: »
    Bad advice from the artful dodger..................!
    Who he?

    Attention to detail matters, especially in landlord/tenant things...

    "Good advice" eh?
  • dratop
    dratop Posts: 3 Newbie
    First Post Combo Breaker First Anniversary
    Hi all,

    I just had a particularly negative experience with this company as a guarantor to a tenant. Not only did they request an excessive amount of personal information (including contacting my employer) without giving clear information about how this data will be used/stored/discarded, they have also been very aggressive in their follow up communications, contacting me both by email and text message (minutes later, before I had a chance to reply) to request further info. The text message requested a call back, which I did as I was not aware it was relating to the same subject as the email. The person I spoke to was rushing me and not receptive to feedback.

    When completing their form online , the privacy policy is quoted in the T&C that you have to agree to, but there is no link to it. I guess they expect us to trust them and agree to all without reading the detail.

    Their emails to me refer to 'my' tenancy application, even though I am the guarantor and not the applicant. The same wording was used in their communication to my employer )to confirm my employment status and salary details) - this of course caused confusion as it hinted that I was moving house, which I wasn't.

    They informed me that they would do a credit check, but did not specify if this is a soft or a hard check.

    They mentioned they would need details of my referees, but it remains a mystery what they are referring to (aren't I the referee to the tenant as the guarantor? how many degrees of separation do they need?!).

    All in all, they require an inordinate amount of information, give little information about how they use them, are aggressive in their comms and I would not recommend using them if you are a landlord or an agent. If I even rent in the future I will avoid any letting agencies who work with UK Tenant Data.
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