Is landlord asking for too much info?

sequence

I too would walk well away from your property asking that much info artful. There's no need to keep copies of passports for starters. Where do you store all of this info by the way ?

Pennylane

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

they won't, true.

But (speaking as a tenant) the info requested here is too much. I wouldn't want to disclose all that.

And that's absolutely fine. There will be somebody out there who will not do the necessary checks and probably won't bother with safety checks, smoke alarms and so on.

There have been many occasions when I've wanted to buy or hire something and have been amazed at the answers I've needed to supply. Staff are often apologetic and say "it's our policy" when I ask them if I need to give my blood group.;)

IveSeenTheLight

Unfortunately it's a sign of the times and experienced past that has made it a requirement for more information.

Here's a link to an application form showing it's standard information.
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/pdf/application.pdf

The OP's questions asked are pretty standard nowadays.
I'm a LL and some of my prospective tenants have questioned the merit of such information.
When I've responded that I am simply following a process and guidelines and that it should provide some comfort that I am letting out the property professionally instead of not knowing the requirements / guidelines, they have accepted the position.

I maybe am also benefitted from being a registered landlord, so that the tenants can check my credentials if required.

rubber_soul

In my experience it greatly changes from landlord to landlord.
In my current house our landlords just wanted a deposit and a month paid upfront- no references, credit checks, contact with our then landlord or anything. My previous landlord wanted a letter from our work with a reference from them and proof of ID and earnings.

Before moving into this place I did view 2 other properties (private landlords) that wanted £100 for a credit check and for us to jump through all sorts of hoops. I refuse to pay this money- in my opinion it's a ridiculous amount. That's why I avoid agencies, as I don't want to pay all the admin fees. When I did let from an agency we paid hundreds in admin fees...and what for? They were pretty useless to be honest and the deposit was huge, we paid a month's rent and then another month was due straight away.

I do understand why landlords need to cover themselves but it is frustrating for good tenants, like my husband and I

IveSeenTheLight

sequence wrote: »

I too would walk well away from your property asking that much info artful. There's no need to keep copies of passports for starters. Where do you store all of this info by the way ?

I store it in a fire proof safe.
Once a tenant leaves, the documents are offered to the tenant to be returned else shredded.

Pennylane

sequence wrote: »

I too would walk well away from your property asking that much info artful. There's no need to keep copies of passports for starters. Where do you store all of this info by the way ?

In my case, I just asked to see certain documents. When my prospective tenant came with all his stuff I looked at them carefully and handed them back to him. All his other paperwork (everything to do with the property, references etc) is stored in a file in a safe in my house.

chucknorris

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

Perhaps tenants should ask more questions of their prospective LL. Mortgage details, a statement from the lender stating no arrears, confermation of permission to let, copy of gas safety cert, refs from prev tenants, last years business accounts, etc etc etc. I'd bet that would be popular.

I used to be far too laid back about tenant vetting, until I had to evict one. Now I do more thorough checks and tenants should certainly check out their LL too. I'd have no problem with that information at all, in fact it's usually my current tenant that shows the prospective tenant around the property. I usually tell tenants that they should be asking to see at least proof of ownership before handing over a holding deposit, otherwise how do they know that they are not being scammed by a tenant.

I ask for all the information that the OP identified and I would say that if the tenant does not want to provide this I am happy enough to settle for a more thorough credit check if they want to pay for that. As it is I merely do a basic check for CCJ's etc which saves the tenant money on LA fees. I don't actually want a copy of their passport I am happy enough to see it and note down the number, it's just that some tenants tend to send a copy along with other information.

kirstyjessen

loops87 wrote: »

Hello!

I'm new on here. Hopefully someone might be able to help...

My partner and I are looking for a new flat and have found one through a private landlord. We haven't signed or paid anything yet but he's said he'll take the flat off the market. He has just sent us a form asking for the following information, to do reference checks:

-employer information / copies of salary details etc
-info about previous landlords
-passport numbers+photocopies of passports
-national insurance numbers + photocopies of payslips
-bank details (bank account number, address, etc).

The guy seems pretty genuine. We looked round 2 of his flats and we wanted the other one first, but he said it wasn't available, so we nearly didn't even bother with him, and I am sure if he was a scammer he would scam us at the first opportunity...? Also we know his name and address, mobile number and where he works (or at least we think we do.)

However, I am not sure why he needs all this information to do his references. The employer and landlord stuff is understandable of course, but do I need to give him my bank account and passport numbers at this stage? What could he do with this information? Is there anything that I should say I don't want to give him at this stage? I guess I could just ask him what he needs it all for but he seems like such a nice guy I don't want to go accusing him!

Thanks, sorry for long post!

I never got asked for this information when I privately rented only previous reference and a despoit. and asked for their bank details rather than giving mine.

Only when I started renting from rental compnies ie nationwide property lettings, belvoir, allen and harris etc did i need to provide all the details above so its depends on wehtther you are going through a agency or whether you are going through a non agency landlord.

theartfullodger

chucknorris (!!!??) stated

I used to be far too laid back about tenant vetting, until I had to evict one. Now I do more thorough checks and tenants should certainly check out their LL too.

Agreed:

Should any tenant/prospective tenant ask for proof I owned a property, had the agreement of the lender(if any) to let or had valid/relevant insurance or wanted to see safety checks of course I'd be happy to provide copies... but none has ever asked, in over 10 years... and I can't have an honest face, I'm surprisingly often stopped at customs....


Cheers!

Lodger

neverdespairgirl

Pennylane wrote: »

And that's absolutely fine. There will be somebody out there who will not do the necessary checks and probably won't bother with safety checks, smoke alarms and so on.

I'm far from convinced of the correlation.