genuine referee

carolwat

Hi

Can anyone advise me on how I know if a person given as a referee is genuine. Basically I am trying to get references for a prospective tenant and I have been given names and numbers but how do I know these are genuine ex landlords and not just a mate of the prospective tenant.

princeofpounds

Normally referees (unless character referees) have some kind of status. Typically a previous landlord, so you could at least go and check the land registry to see if they owned the property the person claims to have lived in.

Otherwise professionals like lawyers, teachers, doctors, lecturers whose existence can at least be verified tend to be used.

Jowo_2

See the landlordzone website for information on how to perform thorough tenant screening as this reduces the risk of having a dodgy tenant by 90%.

The tenant should complete a full tenant application form (landlordzone have a template for this) which gives the relevant information to do a current employer reference, previous landlord references, verify their ID, check against the electoral register, uncover CCJs. It will list information like their date of birth, national insurance number, etc, that makes them more traceable in the event of arrears and a flit but best thing is to find out the rotten ones and not give a key to them in the first place.

You can outsource this activity to a screening company like this one. The tenant pays.

http://www.tenantverify.co.uk/comprehensive.htm

Remember that bad tenants will often target private landlords who rent their properties directly and like nothing more than an accidental or novice landlord whom they can charm and whose landlord skills and housing law knowledge is weak. They are deterred by agencies as there is a higher risk of their previous arrears, fibs and poor credit history being detected.