I gave reference for friend who turned into tenant from hell - please advise!

angelbob

Don't give them your ex friends new address, you don't need any trouble, IF they contact you again tell them where to go.
Idiots they should have done more checks etc in the first place, what is the LL paying them for?

Kittenonthekeys

Morgage_Confused wrote: »

Cant you offer to pay the 10 grand in unpaid rent. That would sort out the situation.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

tbs624

Presumably your "two line"reference/opinion of this person was confined to how long you had known them , in what capacity and that your personal experience of them gave you no reason to doubt their honesty/integrity or words to that effect?

Unless you have deliberately sought to misrepresent your knowledge of this person then you have nothing to worry about.

Don't take crap from an LA who seems to have personally failed to make further appropriate checks before offering this person a tenancy with their client LL.

Any LL/LA who bases their decision solely on the say so of the potential T's friends/acquaintances is a muppet.

tbs624

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

The letting agent doesn't but the landlord does.

Not condoning Ts who run off leaving damaged property and/or unpaid rent but an LA acts for the LL and it's up to the LL to insist that they do the job they are being paid to do.

For all we know, it may of course be the LL who took the ultimate decision to not pursue appropriate referencing.

BitterAndTwisted

"If you really do know (this person) then you should refrain from recommending them as honest and trustworthy."

Actually, I would call this good advicebut from the sound of things the OP has already decided to do just that.They have no legal recourse against you OP, you gave that reference in good faith and as far as you were aware it was truthful at the time you gave it. That's all that could be expected of you. And I doubt very much whether your being asked to appear in court would add anything to the landlord's case against this person, so I wouldn't be losing any sleep over that issue.

I'd have absolutely no hesitation in giving the agent the ex-friend's new address after the way they have behaved. None whatsoever.

DRP

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

"If you really do know (this person) then you should refrain from recommending them as honest and trustworthy."

Actually, I would call this good advicebut from the sound of things the OP has already decided to do just that.They have no legal recourse against you OP, you gave that reference in good faith and as far as you were aware it was truthful at the time you gave it. That's all that could be expected of you. And I doubt very much whether your being asked to appear in court would add anything to the landlord's case against this person, so I wouldn't be losing any sleep over that issue.

I'd have absolutely no hesitation in giving the agent the ex-friend's new address after the way they have behaved. None whatsoever.

trouble is, the OP doesn't know how his friend has behaved. The only evidence that *anything* has even happened comes from an (apparently) fairly flakey and unreliable estate agent.

I would be very wary of believing what the EA says and of passing on details. It is none of the OPs business imo.

Fire_Fox

The letting agent should be shot for taking an e-mail reference, anyone can set up an e-mail address! I still think you have a moral obligation to supply the tenant's new address, who knows if the landlord will get repossessed or go bankrupt over this. I'd be less inclined to say that if the landlord themselves had sent the shirty e-mail (yes I know the agent is the landlord's representative).

InMyDreams

Kittenonthekeys wrote: »

No! :mad::mad::mad:
But they haven't had a chance to apologise (and won't get one) as I immediately emailed to dump and tell them what I thought of them.

Would it not be worth giving your friend a chance to explain? At least hearing their side of the story? Doesn't it seem a bit odd that they have acted so strangely and out of character? Aren't you in the least curious as to why they have behaved like this?

It would be awful to find out in years to come that something awful had happened to them and some slimy estate agent had used you as some pawn to their own ends.

Kittenonthekeys

InMyDreams wrote: »

Would it not be worth giving your friend a chance to explain? At least hearing their side of the story? Doesn't it seem a bit odd that they have acted so strangely and out of character? Aren't you in the least curious as to why they have behaved like this?

It would be awful to find out in years to come that something awful had happened to them and some slimy estate agent had used you as some pawn to their own ends.

I see your point but there's no room for doubt unfortunately, as the agent had sent a graphic description and enclosed pictures of the damage - it was horrendous.
Knowing what they did has made me feel sick and whatever the reason, I feel I must disassociate myself. This may not make me as good a friend as I thought I was, but I have my own life and family to consider.
This ex-friend has as yet made no attempt to explain or apologise -
says it all really.

Ivana_Tinkle

Whatever this person's done, they were your friend once. I think in your situation I would seriously consider giving their address to the agent, but I'd contact the ex-friend first and tell them what I was planning to do. I'd just want to be sure of what had really happened, especially if their behaviour seemed very out of character.