Clarification Please - Credit Checks etc??

TazR

Hi,

My partner and i are looking to rent for the first time, we need to rent for the moment so our son is closer to his new school in september.

As such we are letting out our current property to be closer to the school (its a long story)

Anyway, i have read differing answers as to what 'checks' are carried out by the letting agent / landlord. I was made redundant a few years ago and as such we encountered a few payment problems with a car loan and a number of credit cards, we always communicated with the various lenders and our mortgage was always paid.

This led to reduced payments etc and payment plans, we did default on the car loan, but never recieved any CCJ's.

Since working again we have managed to clear all but a couple of credit card balances, but the car loan because of the amount is still heavily in arrears.

My question is what excatly can the LL and LA see when they perform there checks, i have read differing stories and opinions, some say they can see all defaults, credit history....while others state just CCj's and bankruptcies???

Can someone please give me the best difinitive answer they can, my wife and i are very worried as my sone has special needs and we need to be near his scholl for this purpose.

We both work, myself for the civil service as a civil engineer for LOCOG and my wife 16 hours week as a PA for a broker.

Thanks in advance

clutton_2

why not go to experian or equifax and buy your own credit record and then you can see for yourself exactly what is on record....

LLs usually look for CCJs and the agencies they use which can legally look at your credit file use experian and equifax. As a LL myself i also ask for 3-6 months bank statements, but not everyone does this

G_M

As you are planning to let out your own property, I'm sure you have looked at what credit referencing you will be doing on your prospective tenants!!!!!

Obviously different landlords have different criteria, but if they use one of the standard tenant credit vetting services this is likely to show
* bankrupcy search
*electoral register search
*County Court Judgement search
* a credit 'score' based on Equifax/experian files
* bank statements
* salary confirmation/employer reference
* previous LL reference

To see an example of these services, check the link on this post here

TazR

Thanks for the replies.

They have my employers references stating our salaries etc.

I do seem to recall a member of the forum whom was an Experian employee? posting that LL & LA's have no access to your credit files, only banking or credit companies?

Is that not the case i assume then....?

I assumed they only had access to 'public records'

TazR

i found the thread, post is about 5 down.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3042846

G_M

which is why the tenant vet services get a 'credi score' from Experian etc. They don't show the individual entries on the experian file, but those entries are assessed and go to make up a 'score' which helps the landlord make a decision.

CCJs and bankrupcy are shown.

clutton_2

""CCJs and bankrupcy are shown. " - these are the main reasons a LL needs to investigate a prospective tenants previous financial history

TazR

Thanks everyone