Rent after bankruptcy

tricklesthegreek

Hi all.
My husband and I have been served notice on our current rental property - nothing bad, the landlord's son is coming home from abroad and he needs somewhere to live which is fair enough!

I was declared BR in June 2009 and discharged March 2010. I have spoken to a couple of letting agents and I'm always very upfront about my credit history as since I was declared I have had a pristine history, I have my own credit card again, mobile phone and landline contracts, sky TV and pay british gas via Energysmart. (Unfortunately I went bankrupt due to my ex leaving me with loads of debts and I didn't have any real choice as he naffed off and because I was a fool I learnt the hard way never to buy things for someone and let them pay me back again).

When I rented my current house I passed the checks all on my own but it was two weeks before I went bankrupt - the agency knew my situation and knew I was going to declare but obviously it wasn't showing on my report even though the credit was absolutely shot to the proverbial!!

As I said I've spoken to agents and my husband has a good rating. They said there's two ways we can do it - check me and him and see what comes through and they said I might be alright because it was three years ago now or I might be able to get away with a guarantor and my mum has already agreed to that - or to just check my husband and then for me to be a permitted occupier on the tenancy so I don't have to be checked.

My husband earns £20k plus bonuses which surmount to approximately £2000 after tax on top. I am a teacher and I am on £29k. I hope we would earn enough!

Want to know what people's experience is of renting properties post bankruptcy and the credit check issue. The only thing I don't want to do is pay the £150 odd credit reference fee which the agencies are charging and get told no! I hate this because it is actually making me ill with worry - my husband tells me not to worry about it but as you can appreciate I have bad experiences with things like money in the past and I hold my hands up and admit that but it is very stressful for me

Contracts_Engineer

the easiest thing to do would be to rent privatly. As long as you have good references from previous rents and from employment you should be fine

tricklesthegreek

There are barely any private rents out there in our area, everyone seems to go through agents :-(

Contracts_Engineer

dont give up looking though. i had exactly the same problem as you. i was very upfront to agents and and until i said i was BR they seemed keen. after i mentioned it they tried to sound interested but i never got a single call back off around 10 agents.
I then checked the local paper and landed the dream house im in now. Best move we have ever made and the landlord has agreed to let us buy it from him in just over 4 years time.
Just got to save the deposit and get the mortgage ( easier said than done eh?)
Keep your eyes open, ask at work, does your current landlord know any other landlords? anyone you work with or you know rents? if so get the number for their landlord
Good luck

Contracts_Engineer

and by the way, i was 5 months in to BR when i moved

PippaGirl_2

If I were you, I would take up your Mum's offer to be Guarantor for the intial first 6 months. That way you and your dh have equal legal rights of tenancy and you definitely won't be turned down, the possibility of which won't look good on your credit file which you are doing so well to build up. Once you have been there for the 6 months, or whenever your tenancy is up for renewal ime most agencies don't credit check you at that stage so you will then be there in your own right without a Guarantor.

Whatever you decide, well done on getting through this.

tricklesthegreek

Thanks Pippa, I am hoping that going in, being honest, offering two months deposit and a guarantor and the option to have my husband as the sole credit score and me as a permitted occupier would be enough to sway some agents. We have spoken with three agents and none of them have said no, they said 'there's ways around it' so it sounds like they'd be willing to try. They all said ultimately it's the LLs decision but because I'm upfront they are more willing to discuss.

tricklesthegreek

ContractsEngineer - believe me I'd rather buy than pay dead rental money too but I know the idea of getting a mortgage with anything less than 20% would be a bit fat 'eh ehhhhhhh' (family fortunes sound). I have, at the moment, 1%, so got a bit of a way to go on the saving front.

I think I'm extra stressed because I have just been appointed a new teaching job in September so not only am I trying to move house but changing job. Oh and I got married 6 weeks ago so just recovering from the stress of all of that too!!

PippaGirl_2

I have found face to face discussions work in the past. One of the two agencies in my town has a no DSS policy and no pets (the other agency is a rip off) but when I went in there and talked to them that's exactly what they said, there are ways around things. I think they have policies so they can discount people who they don't get a good feeling about but if they like and believe you and as you say, you are obviously up front and honest, they will often help you find ways around things.

ky822000

I took on a tenancy just before bankruptcy and then moved house six months in. I was just as worried as you but it all worked out fine for me and I didn't offer additional rent up front or guarantor etc.

I would say that as you have already managed to clean your file to the point where you are obtaining credit again in your own name you should not have a problem with the rental checks. Obviously state you have been BR so they know you are honest when they see the file but there is no reason to refuse you a tenancy for something that happened 3 years ago.

Contracts_Engineer

Tricklesthegreek - we moved 5 months into the br with 2 kids and a newborn. is this turning into a competition?????????/ lmao