why is only the tenants that have to provide references?

Fly_Baby

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »

Anyway, I'm not sure references should necessarily be equal. The landlord is the one taking the bigger risk leaving a hugely valuable asset in the hands of the unknown.
It's like applying for a job. You don't ask for formal references for your future boss do you?

When you are applying for a job you are providing a service and receiving the money - whereas with renting, you are getting a service and parting with money. It is your right to know exactly what you will be paying for. You are also commiting to this place your whole family, all your belongings, you change school for kids etc, you change address on all your cards, subscriptions etc - it is not good for your credit rating to move often, in case you do get a bad landlord.

There is a lot of commitment and risk on the tenant's side. And as a tenant who was always on time with rent, I would just love to hear feedback on both the property and the landlord from previous tenants.

I agree that risks are different but for the tenant, they are just as important.

seven-day-weekend

I too am sorry for the loss of your cat in such an awful way; it must have been so upsetting for you.

Can't give you advice about the housing, sorry, although I would have thought the landlord would have been horrified at what happened and rushed to repair it.

theartfullodger

Sorry to read of your problems,,

Can't see why a tenant shouldn't ask for references, from either/or/both Landlord and Letting Agent: As far as I know there is no legal reason stopping such a request.

Any tenant ever done so>???

Speaking for myself I would be happy to provide such info as a Landlord - eg addresses of other properties rented out, copies of my Buildings & Contents Insurance, copies of Gas & Electric certificates, details of my registration of a Landlord with the relevant authority (Mandatory in Scotland, criminal offence not to be registered), copy of any accreditation certificate, training courses attended etc. etc...

What's to hide??

Cheers!

Lodger

real1314

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

However, the above doesn't reflect the landlords finances if they have debts building up and have yet to go to court. Nor does it show if the landlord has employment and a good enough wage to finance his debts.

To do this bit you'd have to get full financial income /expenditure details for the LL.

Do you really think it's reasonable for a LL to have to disclose every details of thier personal finances to numerous tenants, who are unlikely to be subject to the Data Protection Act?

The risks to the tenant are:-

LL doesn't maintain the property adequatelt /at all. Maximum loss to tenant is their rent/inconvenience. There are numerous ways a T can get recourse through the courts, through councils, environmental health, etc and in the vast majority of cases a successful judgement, followed through with enforcement action, should lead to repayment.

The risks to the LL are:-

Tenant doesn't pay rent - similar level of risk as T, but the chance of a LL recovering their losses are much lower, and in far more cases virtually nil.

Tenant stays on beyond end of tenancy - agains there are legal ways to deal with this but often lead to loss of rent.

Tenant trashes the property - huge potential losses, LL can sue or get the police in, but again, much lower chance of getting any recompense.

tbs624

theartfullodger wrote: »

Sorry to read of your problems,,

Can't see why a tenant shouldn't ask for references, from either/or/both Landlord and Letting Agent: As far as I know there is no legal reason stopping such a request.

Any tenant ever done so>???

Speaking for myself I would be happy to provide such info as a Landlord - eg addresses of other properties rented out, copies of my Buildings & Contents Insurance, copies of Gas & Electric certificates, details of my registration of a Landlord with the relevant authority (Mandatory in Scotland, criminal offence not to be registered), copy of any accreditation certificate, training courses attended etc. etc...

What's to hide??

Cheers!

Lodger

It's not enough Artful L , Miss Moneypenny wants to know the ins and outs of all your personal finances too....;)

theartfullodger

It's not enough Artful L , Miss Moneypenny wants to know the ins and outs of all your personal finances too...

OK then, anyone with valid cause can see my tax returns for the past 3 years: As noted before, what's to hide??

Cheers!

Lodger

lisa-loves-cats

theartfullodger wrote: »

OK then, anyone with valid cause can see my tax returns for the past 3 years: As noted before, what's to hide??

Cheers!

Lodger

I agree, with what's to hide, but I wouldn't want to know the personal financial position of the landlord really, how would that help tell me how well the property is maintained?

Just because the LL's personal financial postion is much to be desired, doesn't mean they aren't doing everything they can to recover and doesn't mean that they do or don't maintain their property well.

All I would want to ask previous tenants, or in my case, tell potential future tenants, is about the collapsed lid on the cesspit, how the property is impossible to keep warm because all the windows are so drafty, the damp in the hall, how when using the washing machine in the "utility room" (which is more like a 1970's lean-to) you have to open the door and run an extension lead to the plug which causes even more heat loss and draft, the list goes on.......

Davesnave

Hello Lisa! like Pawpurrs, I was sorry to hear of the circumstances which you've written about here, but I'm glad you eventually sold and are in a strong buying position when the time is right.

We sold in early January and rented for 8 months until we moved to this smallholding. We too had a neglectful landlord, but TBH it was an arrangement of convenience, and with our 'house money' earning 6% or so it wasn't like it bothered us much!

We did, however, have quite a time getting our deposit back from the agents, who procrastinated, and only issued a cheque when I hinted at serious unpleasantness. The cheque drawn on the agents' client account bounced, so I contacted the deposit protection agencies, none of whom had any record of the property, so the AST agreement was breached. The agents, realising that I knew what this might mean in terms of compensation, issued a further cheque, which cleared, but by then we were two months out of the property, which we'd left in a much better state than we'd found it.

Last week, I wrote to the current tenants telling them in detail our experiences, so they can avoid similar problems when their AST ends.

Yes, it really beats me how a landlord can allow water to drip through a roof every time it rains in a property they reckon is worth £350k, leaving it up to a third party to catch it. Fair enough, but not expecting us to point out the subsidence to some prospective purchasers was going just a bit too far on the good will front!:rotfl:

I really hope you find that 'dream.' We didn't, but what we got instead was a stupendous bargain and interesting times ahead making it 'ours.' Without renting, and being there, cash in hand, it wouldn't have happened.

All the very best to you and yours.

MissMoneypenny

theartfullodger wrote: »

OK then, anyone with valid cause can see my tax returns for the past 3 years: As noted before, what's to hide??

Cheers!

Lodger

It's not a problem for the honest, solvent landlords.

MissMoneypenny

lisa-loves-cats wrote: »

Just because the LL's personal financial postion is much to be desired, doesn't mean they aren't doing everything they can to recover and doesn't mean that they do or don't maintain their property well.

If their finances are in a poor state, they won't have the money to carry out repairs on the rental, such as a new boiler.

They could be using your rent money to pay off their own mortgage instead of the tenanted property, or building up secured debts against the tenanted property. A landlord with financial problems would be more interested in keeping a roof over their own head than their tenants.