Can tenants lie that they have a job??

Gingernutmeg

So, as a tenant, I'm expected to hand over my NI number, my driving license, my passport, three months wage slips, 3-6 months worth of bank statements, and at least two referees who are willing to give a total stranger (ie the landlord) both business and private numbers, oh and a guarantor. I'm a good tenant, but there's absolutely NO WAY I'd hand over all that information to a complete stranger and I'd be hugely suspicious of any 'landlord' who asked me for all that - in fact I'd probably walk away, not because I can't provide it, but because I'd be wary of anyone who is so 'uneasy' about letting their property and who wants so much easily stolen information.

I fully accept landlords need to vet tenants (and bad tenants annoy me, because they make it harder for good tenants to find decent landlords) but I think you're living in a bit of a dream-world if you think people are going to open themselves up to such scrutiny, especially given that a tenant isn't generally able to get any similar kinds of assurance about their landlord.

Planner

Gingernutmeg wrote: »

So, as a tenant, I'm expected to hand over my NI number, my driving license, my passport, three months wage slips, 3-6 months worth of bank statements, and at least two referees who are willing to give a total stranger (ie the landlord) both business and private numbers, oh and a guarantor. I'm a good tenant, but there's absolutely NO WAY I'd hand over all that information to a complete stranger and I'd be hugely suspicious of any 'landlord' who asked me for all that - in fact I'd probably walk away, not because I can't provide it, but because I'd be wary of anyone who is so 'uneasy' about letting their property and who wants so much easily stolen information.

I fully accept landlords need to vet tenants (and bad tenants annoy me, because they make it harder for good tenants to find decent landlords) but I think you're living in a bit of a dream-world if you think people are going to open themselves up to such scrutiny, especially given that a tenant isn't generally able to get any similar kinds of assurance about their landlord.

Yes, but the tenant isnt signing over their £150,000 assest to someone elses care.

Planner

I think references, wage slips/bank statements are perfectly reasonable. I doubt you would be able to rent through an agency without them. A prospective tenants refusal to provide such things is usual interpreted as a sign that they have something to hide rather than a measure of their high principles.

Rental properties are 10 a penny these days, such a tenant can always go to a more carefree landlord.

Gingernutmeg

Planner wrote: »

Yes, but the tenant isnt signing over their £150,000 assest to someone elses care.

But it will always remain the landlord's asset, and one would assume that as a businessman/woman, they'd taken reasonable steps to protect themselves should the tenant not look after their asset in the way they desire, the same way any sensible person in business does.

My issue is that I think a lot of these problems arise because too many landlords rely on agencies to carry out credit checks - I really don't have a problem with landlords carrying out checks, but I think they need to be realistic about how much scrutiny people are willing to take. I've moved a lot through work and study, I've generally used agencies, and ime even work references are never checked, and I've never been asked for wage slips or bank statements. I strongly suspect that most letting agents don't carry out proper checks, and just rely on the fact that a tenant 'most likely' will be ok. The issue is not MORE checks, it's carrying out what already exists more conscienciously. And what's to stop a 'good' tenant, who passes all the checks, from defaulting once they move into a property? Whilst past behaviour can be a fairly reliable indicator of future actions, it's not always the case. It just staggers me that so many landlords don't even want to meet potential tenants, you'd think they would want to at least speak to someone who's moving into their asset ...

And I still think that asking for bank statements is intrusive, and realistically, what does it prove? I could be paying my wages into one account and paying my debts from another - there's no way a landlord would know if I chose not to give him every statement from every account. To give my example, a very, very basic credit check would show that I have no debts, no credit cards etc, and a very, very basic landlord reference would show that I've paid x amount of rent for x amount of years, again without running up debts. Therefore I'm obviously living within my means. What I choose to spend those means on is my business, and shouldn't have to be shared with a landlord. Unless, of course, he's planning to share his bank statements with me so that I can ensure I'm not going to be wasting my time and money by being evicted from a repossession a few months into the tenancy.

Planner

Gingernutmeg wrote: »

and one would assume that as a businessman/woman, they'd taken reasonable steps to protect themselves should the tenant not look after their asset in the way they desire, the same way any sensible person in business does.

Yes. They have vetted their tenants as fully and reasonably as possible before granting a tenancy. In my opinnion, this includes checking reference, wages slips/bank statements and credit checking.

AverageJoe_4

Gingernutmeg wrote: »

So, as a tenant, I'm expected to hand over my NI number, my driving license, my passport, three months wage slips, 3-6 months worth of bank statements, and at least two referees who are willing to give a total stranger (ie the landlord) both business and private numbers, oh and a guarantor. I'm a good tenant, but there's absolutely NO WAY I'd hand over all that information to a complete stranger and I'd be hugely suspicious of any 'landlord' who asked me for all that - in fact I'd probably walk away, not because I can't provide it, but because I'd be wary of anyone who is so 'uneasy' about letting their property and who wants so much easily stolen information.

I fully accept landlords need to vet tenants (and bad tenants annoy me, because they make it harder for good tenants to find decent landlords) but I think you're living in a bit of a dream-world if you think people are going to open themselves up to such scrutiny, especially given that a tenant isn't generally able to get any similar kinds of assurance about their landlord.

1 - a landlord can ask for whatever he wants along these lines - its his own business he's running

2 - no one forced the potential tenant to approach the landlord

3 - tenants should vet the landlords as much as they can too - commonsense. If a landlord os not willing to show good references to back up his business crudentials, I wouldn't wanna do busines with him.

tripled

A reference I don't mind, nor handing over a copy of a couple of recent wage slips. A credit check I object to but would probably consent to (depending on the circumstances).

6 months of wage slips and bank statements? I wouldn't care how good the deal was, I'd tell the landlord or agency to jog on and go somewhere else.

AverageJoe_4

tripled wrote: »

A reference I don't mind, nor handing over a copy of a couple of recent wage slips. A credit check I object to but would probably consent to (depending on the circumstances).

6 months of wage slips and bank statements? I wouldn't care how good the deal was, I'd tell the landlord or agency to jog on and go somewhere else.

I think the bank statements were for evidence that you have a regular income from the wage slips that you provide - block out all other info such as other transactions etc...

If you opened a bank account or wanted other credit, these are some or all checks that would be made - but then the lanlord is essentially giving you the right to his house so he'll wanna make sure you're not a dodgy scumbag..

Pepzofio

I'm with gingernutmeg and tripled - there's no way I'd hand over my bank statements! I might consider handing over wageslips if I really liked a place, but I'd try offering employer and previous LL refs first. As naijapower said, these can be checked fairly easily with a little initiative.

Frankly, I wouldn't rent from a LL who wanted to see my bank statements to see what I spent my money on...

tbs624

mlz1413 wrote: »

I agree with naija and artful, would add that taking a guarantor is also a good thing, not only does it mean you have someone else to chase for rent/damage normally anyone of 'shady' charater cannot get someone to guarnator for them.

There are plenty of good , honest potential tenants who would also struggle to get someone suitable to act as a guarantor for them. Acting as a guarantor for anyone is a major undertaking and many people are not prepared to enter into such an arrangement, particularly when the LA/LL will generally want a similar level of info on the potential guarantor as s/he does on the T. Definitely not a flagger-up of general shadiness to not be able to produce a guarantor......;)