Is this credit reference fee fair??

mariposa

I have sold my house and need to rent with my 2 adult sons for 6 months. I have found a house I want to rent, am happy with the rent and deposit, and the landlord seems happy for me to be his tenant. However, his letting agent is insistent that all 3 of us pay for credit reference checks - a grand total of £310 - even though I've explained that its a pointless exercise for my sons as they'll both fail. My youngest isn't well and on long term sickness benefit and the eldest has started his own business and isn't yet drawing a salary. Furthermore, he has had problems making payments on his credit card and overdraft (a hangover from university) since deciding to go it alone. I have been very upfront with the agent and the landlord about this as I know I have an excellent credit score myself and am about to release substantial equity in my house so can pay the 6 months rent up front. I have a good job and am employed as full-time staff, not contract. I am of course happy for them to credit check me as I'll be solely responsible for the rent, but it just seems like money down the drain for them to check my two sons. Apparently there's a 'legal' reason they have to do it, although the agent seems more keen on it than the landlord himself, who doesn't seem too worried. I think he's confident I'll be a good tenant - which I will. Any comments anyone? I'm a bit of a renting novice.

LittleMissAspie

I'm sure there's no legal reason. My boyfriend and I are both on the tenancy agreement but only he was credit checked so that we didn't have to pay as much.

PNPSUKNET

no legal reason just a way to extract money from you, credit checks cost no where near what they ask.

G_M

Speak to the landlord. The agent works for him so if he tells them not to bother, or just to reference you, then they should do as he says.

No legal reason, though they may be covering their backs so that if things go pear-shaped in the future they can show the LL they did everything they could to find 'good tenants'.

It's the LL's decision in the end.

Fire_Fox

mariposa wrote: »

I have sold my house and need to rent with my 2 adult sons for 6 months. I have found a house I want to rent, am happy with the rent and deposit, and the landlord seems happy for me to be his tenant. However, his letting agent is insistent that all 3 of us pay for credit reference checks - a grand total of £310 - even though I've explained that its a pointless exercise for my sons as they'll both fail. My youngest isn't well and on long term sickness benefit and the eldest has started his own business and isn't yet drawing a salary. Furthermore, he has had problems making payments on his credit card and overdraft (a hangover from university) since deciding to go it alone. I have been very upfront with the agent and the landlord about this as I know I have an excellent credit score myself and am about to release substantial equity in my house so can pay the 6 months rent up front. I have a good job and am employed as full-time staff, not contract. I am of course happy for them to credit check me as I'll be solely responsible for the rent, but it just seems like money down the drain for them to check my two sons. Apparently there's a 'legal' reason they have to do it, although the agent seems more keen on it than the landlord himself, who doesn't seem too worried. I think he's confident I'll be a good tenant - which I will. Any comments anyone? I'm a bit of a renting novice.

If your sons are named on the tenancy agreement they will be jointly and severally liable, which may be why the letting agents are nervous .... or they might just want to profit from the credit checks! Put the bits in bold into writing, ask for your sons to be named as permitted residents/ lodgers rather than party to the tenancy agreement.

Ignite

Yep, it's all about the agents greed. The credit checks cost around the £20 mark per check so the rest of the charge goes into the pocket of the agent. That's why they want all 3 of you to have checks.

Blacksheep1979

I'd also point our to the agents that £310 isn't divisible by 3 so it looks like they've just started plucking figures out of the air. Ok it could be £100 each and a £10 admin fee but tbh a fair chunk of it is just going to go in their pockets.

sjcollett

Hi, if your sons are also going on the agreement that is why they want to credit check them. While the landlord appears fine now...trust me [i am an agent] landlords soon forget these details if things go wrong and it doesn't matter what you do, you as the agent will be to blame.

I know it seems harsh and a waste of money, but many agents have been forced into doing more paper chasing exercises to cover our backs as tenants and landlords want blood when things go wrong!

clutton_2

""credit checks cost around the £20 "" - the barest minimum check can cost less than this, but a full check can cost around £50.

Why do most folks on this site assume that a letting agent need not charge for their time ?

It actually takes a fair bit of time to thoroughly check out a person, especially if the agent contacts previous landlords, employers, referees, banks, in order to check out all the information provided on the tenancy application form. Each contact has to be pre-faced with supply of the data protection disclaimer signed by the tenant. All this can take several hours.

There is no substitute for the spoken word when speaking to referees, they will often not put in writing what it is you really want to know

G_M

True clutton.

And though I DIY as a LL, using a mid-price, mid-service referencing service (£30ish) I rely heavily on phone calls, even checking the numbers I'm given are not the applicant's brother-in-law but actually IS a genuine employer.

Morglin

mariposa wrote: »

I have sold my house and need to rent with my 2 adult sons for 6 months. I have found a house I want to rent, am happy with the rent and deposit, and the landlord seems happy for me to be his tenant. However, his letting agent is insistent that all 3 of us pay for credit reference checks - a grand total of £310 - even though I've explained that its a pointless exercise for my sons as they'll both fail. My youngest isn't well and on long term sickness benefit and the eldest has started his own business and isn't yet drawing a salary. Furthermore, he has had problems making payments on his credit card and overdraft (a hangover from university) since deciding to go it alone. I have been very upfront with the agent and the landlord about this as I know I have an excellent credit score myself and am about to release substantial equity in my house so can pay the 6 months rent up front. I have a good job and am employed as full-time staff, not contract. I am of course happy for them to credit check me as I'll be solely responsible for the rent, but it just seems like money down the drain for them to check my two sons. Apparently there's a 'legal' reason they have to do it, although the agent seems more keen on it than the landlord himself, who doesn't seem too worried. I think he's confident I'll be a good tenant - which I will. Any comments anyone? I'm a bit of a renting novice.

Contact the landlord and tell him you are not willing to pay for all these checks, just yours - you'll probably find, at the moment, if you can supply a good reference, and are willing to pay the full rent, the landlord will tear your arms off in his haste to get you as a tenant lol;)

Lin