Renting - Asking for Bank Statements

2bFrank

Hello,

We are currently looking for a flat we like, and are considering moving in. However I have a question with the credit check process. The agents are asking for references from employers, 3 months wage slips and credit check, which I am all fine with. But they are also asking for 3 months bank statements. Is this normal?

What are they looking for on the statements, is it just to check your wages are being paid or do they look at what you spend your money on. My statements are a mess at the moment as I have just been on holiday so the transactions are quite random (buying new clothes etc), also I am a few hundred in my overdraft (I have a £2000 limit), will this matter?

Also I have Internet Banking and do not get a statement posted, can I print them off on the Internet.

angrypirate

Tell them to get stuffed with the bank statements. They are probably wanting them so they dont have to fork out £20 for the credit checks. Make sure you ask for proof of ownership and references for the LL.

RecoveringAlcoholic

Have you checked out the financial stability of your landlord as you have few rights if they go bust?

2bFrank

We have not, not sure how we would do that.

theartfullodger

Angrypirate advises

Tell them to get stuffed with the bank statements.

Aye, right, that'll ensure the LL/Agent thinks your helpful & sensible.

Landlords/Agents find 3 months bank statements valuable as they show that

1. Current rent is being paid regularly, on time (if at all..)
2. Address given on application form matches that on Bank Statement
3. Claimed income matches what hits bank statement.

Clearly if you are so shy about providing such info then the LL/agent might want to make more checks. I would.

You should check the LL owns the property - follow this...
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1377883

Cheers!

Lodger

ciano125

I told them to get stuffed when they wanted £130 plus all the above "to do credit checks" when we started renting. I told them that I was not going to pay it, but that I would get the credit check done on myself for £6 (you can get it free with experian of course) and that was that, take it or leave it. They took it funnily enough, although they were quite off with me, probably even more so when I got the landlord to sack them off for being useless, but by that point I didnt care much for them anyway!

toby3000

I wouldn't provide them with it. Maybe things are different where you live, but there's plenty of rental properties around. I never go through a letting agent, the fees are a total rip off and the service is non-existant in most cases

Gingernutmeg

theartfullodger wrote: »

Angrypirate advises
Aye, right, that'll ensure the LL/Agent thinks your helpful & sensible.

Landlords/Agents find 3 months bank statements valuable as they show that

1. Current rent is being paid regularly, on time (if at all..)
2. Address given on application form matches that on Bank Statement
3. Claimed income matches what hits bank statement.

Clearly if you are so shy about providing such info then the LL/agent might want to make more checks. I would.

I really don't get this new 'game' of asking tenants for bank statements. Seems to me it's just a way for a LL to be exceedingly nosy, and it doesn't really prove anything. For example:

1. My rent gets paid from a joint account - so does that mean I have to provide my bank statements, my OHs bank statements and the statements from the joint account? Highly intrusive, and really pretty silly - you can make a bank statement show pretty much anything, if you're reasonably intelligent.
2. As I've only recently been a student, and as (because of bad LLs) I've moved about so much in the past few years, I still use my parent's address for bank statements, the tiny few I get. Therefore, my addresses don't match - it doesn't mean I'm a criminal. Also, what about people who exclusively use online banking? AFAIK, there aren't any addresses on online statements. So 'bank statements' per se aren't proving anything much in this case.
3. See point 1 - most people have more than one bank account, so does that mean I have to provide a potential LL and a complete stranger with ALL of my financial details? Given that I don't know 'you' from Adam, it seems like a fantastic way to make myself a victim of fraud ... And again, one can make a bank statement show anything - what if, for example, my 'earnings' are just a lump sum from my savings that I've transferred back and forth for a few months?

Sorry, but I don't see a need to show bank statements to a stranger and I wouldn't do it - and I don't see that it proves anything. Like someone else says, seems to me to be a lazy way for LLs and LAs to avoid paying for a 'proper' credit check or doing some proper leg-work of the sort you'd think they'd be anxious to do, given that someone's going to be moving into their property. You can find out about my earnings by calling my boss, you can find out if I've paid the rent on time by calling my previous LL/LA, you can find out if I am who I say I am by perfoming a few basic checks and you can find out if I'm financially solvent by carrying out the cheapest and most basic of credit checks. If those check out, then there is absolutely no need for you as a LL to see my bank statements. It's intrusive - if I'm paying the rent in full and on time and I've got proof that I've done that for however many years, then what I choose to spend the rest of my money on is nobody's business but my own.

As a tenant, sometimes it really feels like we're reaching a point where I'll have to sign the tenancy agreement in blood and agree to hand my first-born over as well ... :rolleyes:

clutton_2

i sometimes ask for bank statements - it depends on the tenant and on the circumstances.

my view as a landlord is that i am giving up custodianship of a hugely expensive asset to a total stranger - and i need to do some due diligence.

i always ask for 3-6 months of bank statements from guarantors.

i will ask to see bank statements if my gut instinct is telling me that something is not quite right about the "story" i am given as to why a prospective tenant wants a home. ... usually my instinct is right and these bank statements never appear and the tenants disappear.

a call to a previous landlord could be the landlord they shafted and he is trying to get rid - so he will say anything to get shot of them.

sadly the few professional "rogue" tenants make it all the more difficult for the 99% of honest tenants who approach me.

giving a property to someone who only pays the first months rent and then refuses to pay anymore can cost thousands of pounds - and possibly property damage as well.

when i became a tenant last year i showed my bank statements and did not get the property as the landlord felt i might "know too many of my rights" once he knew my occupation !!!

i now have a fantastic LL and landlady ..... they did not get to see my bank statements - but then they have an appalling agent, and i am now advising them on better practice...

SouthCoast

My advice is to cut out the greedy, lazy, incompetent letting agents and deal direct with the landlord.

dlk

I dont see a problem with this to be honest. If you were to apply for a loan or mortgage etc you'd expect to provide bank statements to help them assess your ability to pay the debt back. This seems fundamentally to be exactly the same whereby they are simply trying to ascertain your ability to pay the rent. From what you've said you'll have no problems with your bank statements as they'll be looking for evidence of financial difficulties such as returned payments or exceeding your overdraft limit etc.