Can tenants lie that they have a job??

clutton_2

i always say to prospective tenants that i am a professional landlord of 10 years and if they would like phone numbers of any of my current tenants they can have them for a reference for me. no one, not one single person, has ever said - yes please.

i used landlordzone. tenancy application form, and if it aint filled in fully, i dont take it any further.

i will firstly verify all the information on the form - ringing their employer/ex landlord / referee whoever is on there - fax them the Data Protectoin disclaimer the prospective tenant has signed then ring them up. folks may say things on the phone they will not put in writing.

if i am unsure - i sometimes pop round to their house on the pretext of having forgotten to get some info from them - i have not offered 3 properties on this basis alone - slobs aint living in my props !

I have nearly been fooled by professional debtors twice, but, my due diligence and atention to detail has found out that one couple owed £1800 in unpaid rent - and another one - my gut instinct just kicked in

talking to people and helping them fill in the form, you can learn a lot about folks. i will only ask for bank statements (and i never copy them, just read them) if there is precious little other hard data to follow up - yes it is an intrusion.

but as others have said when i apply for mortgages i have to provide a huge amount of personal information - why should a tenant be any different. ?

asking people straight to their face why they are looking for a new home will always tell you a lot if you can be very aware of their body language.

but - bottom line - its trust - thats what makes LL/T relationships work - if you aint got that - you aint got nuffink ! if your guts say dont trust - then dont - rather have an empty property for a couple of months than an uninhabited, non-rent paying tenant stuck there for several months

having said all that - in my experience 95% of tenants are perfectly reasonable honest people trying their best in life, just as i am ..

sadly is the 5% bad LLs and 5% bad tenants who get all the publicity and cause all the uproar

Lil2002

I don't think it's wrong for landlords to ask for all of that stuff, but as a renter, I reserve the right to refuse. I'm willing to prove who I am, and my income. Detailed bank statements - nope, not happening.

There are a lot of properties out there, a lot of LL's, and a lot of renters. There really is someone for everyone.

soulsaver

d123 wrote: »

you can actually buy 6 computer generated Sage payslips completed with whatever details you want for £12 on Ebay.

Definitely a good way to ascertain a persons worthiness..................or perhaps not

Wouldn't pay by cheque tho'...

kunekune

I think some employers might get a bit fed up with all these requests for references; in my place of work, if they could actually get hold of him - he is often abroad - my line manager would certainly not be willing to do this on a regular basis (remember, each tenancy is likely to be for an initial period of 6 months), I doubt he knows anything about my salary, and anyone would just be referred to HR. Who don't know me from a bar of soap. I know that I get well and truly fed up with my students who ask for 5-6 references each.

stevetodd

cheekykid wrote: »

Am a new landlord after acquiring a property from my parents. I've got a tenant who wants to move in and after talking to him there are some things am concerned of as he seems a bit shady(i could be wrong). I have checked the tenancy application my agency is giving out to potential tenants and I have concerns about the body that will be carrying out a search based on the details given by the tenant.
For example the application which as we know will be forwarded to an external body for credit checks (right?) asks for Current employment details.
What if the tenant has a friend who has a shop and even though he is unemployed he puts down that hes working there full time. Can the body(in this case lets say LETREF which is what appears on the application i've seen) give a definete answer as to whether someone is REALLY employed or not? What exactly do they look for before they inform the agency that a given tenant is "viable"?

I know am being paranoid but....helps to know as much as possible

I think you should learn to do your own checks, I don't use agents and this experience confirmed what they can be like. Two of my tenants were moving out of one of my properties, one was a friend the other owed me rent. When the agency they went to asked me for a landlord's reference, obviously I did not provide one. Their solution was to just put my friends name on the contract and leave the other name off. So they wer so focused on getting their fees in that they delibrately placed a rent defaulting tenant into their client's property. I know this because my friend kept me informed.

tbs624

clutton wrote: »

i always say to prospective tenants that i am a professional landlord of 10 years and if they would like phone numbers of any of my current tenants they can have them for a reference for me. no one, not one single person, has ever said - yes please.

... but that type of "reference" is not the same as providing detailed financial information on your ability to meet your mortgage payments, or proof that you manage your "portfolio" efficiently so that you don't go to the wall, and render your T homeless and out of pocket. Would you let your T have a copy of your passport, your NI number, for example, so that they know you are who you say you are and have means of tracking you down if you defaulted on your mortage? Would you let them have the results of a similar credit check done on you?

LLs of course have to be able to reasonably protect their property and each LL can have their own rules about who/what is acceptable to them but then Ts also will have their own line about what they will and won't want to share.

Another poster throws out the old chestnut about "it's only those with something to hide who object ", which is tosh. Some people prefer to keep some parts of thier finances private - that does not necessarily mean that they are less trustworthy than someone who will hand over their whole life in paperwork (perhaps to an idiot LL who fails to keep the info secure or to a lax LA whose office junior spends her time filing her nails and perusing other people's personal data).

clutton wrote: »

...but - bottom line - its trust - thats what makes LL/T relationships work - if you aint got that - you aint got nuffink ! if your guts say dont trust - then dont - rather have an empty property for a couple of months than an uninhabited, non-rent paying tenant stuck there for several months

having said all that - in my experience 95% of tenants are perfectly reasonable honest people trying their best in life, just as i am ..

sadly is the 5% bad LLs and 5% bad tenants who get all the publicity and cause all the uproar

Agree with you there

stevetodd

tbs624 wrote: »

...Would you let your T have a copy of your passport, your NI number, for example, so that they know you are who you say you are and have means of tracking you down if you defaulted on your mortage? Would you let them have the results of a similar credit check done on you?

I would not, why would they need a copy of my passport? I would however show the original to them as well as proof of ownership of the property (which every tenant should ask to see to this ensure they are not being scammed by someone who does not own the property). I would be very suspicious as to why they needed a copy of my passport.

SingleSue

naijapower wrote: »

I don't seem to understand why some people claim landlord is wrong to see and assess a tenant's bank statement before handing over the keys of his property.
Yes, landlrod might be a stranger, so also is the bank staff who request same before they grant you credit etc.
Landlord might have insurance so also does the bank but yet the bank still request for heaven and earth b4 granting loans to stanger.
The landlord's house is most likely his/her biggest asset. What wrong does he do by reasonably trying to protect it.
In my opinion,only a tenant that has something to hide would refus to co-operate. So far, none of my tenants have raised an eyebrow when i ask for all these. Infact some are happy to provide surplus.

I don't have anything to hide but I would sure as not like anyone to be reading my bank statements unless of course they are in a position of trust and have had their honesty checked and where if fraud of those details occured (like in a bank), there would be legal back up via the company they worked for...otherwise it is just tooooooo personal and private and could be downright financially dangerous.

It would cause me sleepless nights worrying that I may have the less than honest landlord who would use those details to defraud me at a later date, or sell the details on.

Eeekkk nope, not for me!