Renting In Bankruptcy

uglysmithy80

Hello Everyone,

Please could i ask a few question about renting in bankruptcy.

I am due to go bankrupt in the next few week as i owe 22k and due to me losing my job i have fallen behind payments and have started a job which is a trainee job and pays only 10k for the next 12 months. There is a bit of commission around £350 a month but nothing more than that.

The main thing is I have met a girl who i love deeply and we are planning to move in together in September this year.

She knows about me having to go BR and she is worried about the credit check the estate agents do for when we find a place to rent. We will definately have the deposit for what they will be asking for and my girlfriend has absolutely perfect credit score.

What can the estate agents do ? Will i need a guarantor ? Which will be fine as my parents or her parents would do it for us ?

I am really scared about going BR but is there anyone who has recently gone through the experience?

Is it as bad as is sounds ?


Kind regards
Andrew

Ineedaname

You will likely fail any credit check as letting agents generally don't like BRs, not getting the point that being BR means you have no debts to service, doh!

So either look for a private let direct with the landlord where you are less likely to be credit checked and/or the landlord alone makes the decision whether to rent to a BR, without an agent interfering with their opinion.

Or, when you've found a property, be up front with the letting agents and offer parents as guarantors. The only other option is 6 months rent up front...

Worcsman

uglysmithy80 wrote: »

Hello Everyone,

Please could i ask a few question about renting in bankruptcy.

I am due to go bankrupt in the next few week as i owe 22k and due to me losing my job i have fallen behind payments and have started a job which is a trainee job and pays only 10k for the next 12 months. There is a bit of commission around £350 a month but nothing more than that.

The main thing is I have met a girl who i love deeply and we are planning to move in together in September this year.

She knows about me having to go BR and she is worried about the credit check the estate agents do for when we find a place to rent. We will definately have the deposit for what they will be asking for and my girlfriend has absolutely perfect credit score.

What can the estate agents do ? Will i need a guarantor ? Which will be fine as my parents or her parents would do it for us ?

I am really scared about going BR but is there anyone who has recently gone through the experience?

Is it as bad as is sounds ?


Kind regards
Andrew

If I were you I would go to rented first then go BR, assuming your credit file is clean so far.

Or as you GF has a clean record, get her to rent the place, if she has an income to cover the rent.

If you are upfront about the BR you are going to find it vey difficult. The letting agency will charge you for the credit search, that is not refundable, it doesnt matter that they know you will fail, they'll still charge you. You can overcome the credit check by paying the whole tenancy plus deposit upfront. That still wont garuantee that you will get the place as the agent will reccomend their own preferred tenant to the landlord.. We are going through this process now and it's p**ng me right off.


Private LL's are a good bet, if you can find one keep it secret cos they are rarer than hens teeth!!

Cheers

FuzzyCub

Ineedaname wrote: »

You will likely fail any credit check as letting agents generally don't like BRs, not getting the point that being BR means you have no debts to service, doh!

So either look for a private let direct with the landlord where you are less likely to be credit checked and/or the landlord alone makes the decision whether to rent to a BR, without an agent interfering with their opinion.

Or, when you've found a property, be up front with the letting agents and offer parents as guarantors. The only other option is 6 months rent up front...

It's not usually the letting agent being short sighted but more often that landlords using a letting agents have "rental income insurance" as part of the package, these pay out if the tenant fails to pay the rent but the policies usually won't cover tenants with CCJs/Defaults/BR/IVAs without special considerations such as paying 6 months upfront or providing a guarantor with good credit. If you take a property before BR (even if you have late payments on accounts) you will usually pass the credit checks. Private landlords often don't have these insurances, the trade off being no monthly agent fees. Often they see BRs as great tenants with no outstanding debt...

Worcsman

FuzzyCub wrote: »

It's not usually the letting agent being short sighted but more often that landlords using a letting agents have "rental income insurance" as part of the package, these pay out if the tenant fails to pay the rent but the policies usually won't cover tenants with CCJs/Defaults/BR/IVAs without special considerations such as paying 6 months upfront or providing a guarantor with good credit. If you take a property before BR (even if you have late payments on accounts) you will usually pass the credit checks. Private landlords often don't have these insurances, the trade off being no monthly agent fees. Often they see BRs as great tenants with no outstanding debt...

I totally agree with all of that. Especially the part about BR's being good tenants. But still, like the job interview, when faced with a pile of what look like outstanding candidates, something has to be the tipping point. The BR strike on the file can make it more difficult even after paying upfront. Im hoping not in my case, wont find out for a few more days yet, i will post here when I know.

As a footnote and utterly unrelated, I used to socialise with recruiters for a global consultancy, the boss there said after he had made a short list of applicants, he would throw the pile of CV's at the bin, any that landed in it, weren't interviewed. He said he didn't recruit unlucky people. I guess my point is that you never know what goes on behind the scenes. The repayments being underwritten by insurers is a very valid point. As I have said before though, I have been able to pay all up front, offered that and then been told no thanks, no BR's.. It's as much a game of luck and personal interaction as it is anything else.

FuzzyCub

Worcsman wrote: »

I totally agree with all of that. Especially the part about BR's being good tenants. But still, like the job interview, when faced with a pile of what look like outstanding candidates, something has to be the tipping point. The BR strike on the file can make it more difficult even after paying upfront. Im hoping not in my case, wont find out for a few more days yet, i will post here when I know.

As a footnote and utterly unrelated, I used to socialise with recruiters for a global consultancy, the boss there said after he had made a short list of applicants, he would throw the pile of CV's at the bin, any that landed in it, weren't interviewed. He said he didn't recruit unlucky people. I guess my point is that you never know what goes on behind the scenes. The repayments being underwritten by insurers is a very valid point. As I have said before though, I have been able to pay all up front, offered that and then been told no thanks, no BR's.. It's as much a game of luck and personal interaction as it is anything else.

I'm ashamed to say I like the idea of throwing out the "unlucky candidates" I guess it's one way to shortlist :rotfl:

I suppose the deciding factor is how fast the rental market is moving, one thing landlords hate more than BRs are tenancy voids - 6 months upfront is better than 6 months of no rental income.

In the past I've fibbed and when arranging a viewing and the agent has asked "no history of bad credit is there?" I've said "of course not" then if I like the place "I'll take it - but we need to talk credit checks". When agents are close to closing a deal they find it hard to walk away... must be all that "salesman training".

Worcsman

FuzzyCub wrote: »

I'm ashamed to say I like the idea of throwing out the "unlucky candidates" I guess it's one way to shortlist :rotfl:

I suppose the deciding factor is how fast the rental market is moving, one thing landlords hate more than BRs are tenancy voids - 6 months upfront is better than 6 months of no rental income.

In the past I've fibbed and when arranging a viewing and the agent has asked "no history of bad credit is there?" I've said "of course not" then if I like the place "I'll take it - but we need to talk credit checks". When agents are close to closing a deal they find it hard to walk away... must be all that "salesman training".

LOL! Yeah well thats what I meant by the interaction bit. Fibbing is just part of our armoury to get what we want. just gotta remember to not put any fibs down in writing.

BaldEagle

FuzzyCub wrote: »

In the past I've fibbed and when arranging a viewing and the agent has asked "no history of bad credit is there?" I've said "of course not" then if I like the place "I'll take it - but we need to talk credit checks". When agents are close to closing a deal they find it hard to walk away... must be all that "salesman training".

Did exactly the same when I found my current flat. I'd made the mistake of saying I'd probably fail the credit check with a previous letting agency and the guy literally turned on his heel and walked away.

Love my current place and hope that I'll still be here after my 6 years are done and dusted. Not looking forward to going back through all that crap again...