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

QBSBuck

I would not advise informing your 'friend' of any intention to reveal his address lest you inadvertently escalate the problems for you (and your family). Sorry if anyone thinks that's selfish, but they are your priority.

As for whether to reveal the address to the EA, if rent is owed and damage is done, well isn't that a criminal matter? Will the police be involved? It's just a matter of time.

cte1111

I don't think you should feel bad about it. I can understand why hearing about the problem upset you initially, but none of what happened is your fault in any way. You gave a honest reference as requested.

Perhaps your friend has got into a bad place mentally and that's what led to his behaviour. But the problems with the property are not your responsibility and why on earth the LA thinks someone will 'tick you off' legally for telling the truth is just ridiculous.

BobQ

Assuming the content of your reference is true and was not intended to be misleading its a fair comment in response to a request from the agent and you cannot be blamed for the content or what they did on the basis of it. Whether they allow your friend to rent the property is their decision not yours. If the agent were doing their job properly they would have asked you for more information (How long have you known him? In what capacity did you know him? How long ago did you last see him? etc). If they really let the property on the basis of your brief email they have been incompetent as they should also have had other references.

That said, while I do not think the comment about whether you really know the person is helpful, personally, if someone I had given a reference to proved to be unreliable etc I would want to know this was the case.

I would write to them saying you acted in good faith, but it was their decision not yours. Personally I would let them know your friend's address.

zzzLazyDaisy

BobQ wrote: »

I would write to them saying you acted in good faith, but it was their decision not yours..

This ^^^

Personally I would not get further involved.

There are no legal repercussions on OP. If the LA had done its job properly they would not be in this mess. Frankly they got themselves into it and it is for them to get themselves out of it. I think the threat to land you in court is a bluff since if they pursue the tenant for the debt the question of how good or otherwise the reference was is irelevant.

InMyDreams

Kittenonthekeys wrote: »

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.

To be fair, you said they didn't have a chance (and won't get one), so I'm not sure it says very much, really. You've made it quite clear you are not interested in hearing from them.

I appreciate on a public forum you aren't able to be more specific and we clearly don't have all the facts, so I am not judging, but based just on what you've felt able to say, I still feel that your ex-friend deserves at least one chance to explain before you write him/her off. How can you be 100% certain it was them that caused the damage or that they aren't ill or in trouble and in serious need of help? You only have the estate agent's word that it was your friend who caused the damage. (Obviously you can't answer these questions publicly. Maybe now that the forum has assured you that you've in now way done anything wrong and you have nothing to fear legally, it might be worth trying to get an explanation from your friend before you completely give up on them.)

JuicyJesus

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

There are no legal repercussions on OP.

This is all the OP needs to know.

They are as liable or responsible for their ex-friend's idiocy and damages as Experian are if someone runs up a massive debt and defaults on it on the strength of information they supplied.

david29dpo

InMyDreams wrote: »

To be fair, you said they didn't have a chance (and won't get one), so I'm not sure it says very much, really. You've made it quite clear you are not interested in hearing from them.

I appreciate on a public forum you aren't able to be more specific and we clearly don't have all the facts, so I am not judging, but based just on what you've felt able to say, I still feel that your ex-friend deserves at least one chance to explain before you write him/her off. How can you be 100% certain it was them that caused the damage or that they aren't ill or in trouble and in serious need of help? You only have the estate agent's word that it was your friend who caused the damage. (Obviously you can't answer these questions publicly. Maybe now that the forum has assured you that you've in now way done anything wrong and you have nothing to fear legally, it might be worth trying to get an explanation from your friend before you completely give up on them.)

As every agent i have ever met (liars) i agree with the above.
There is ALWAYS two side to a story.

Fire_Fox

david29dpo wrote: »

As every agent i have ever met (liars) i agree with the above.
There is ALWAYS two side to a story.

The only way the landlord or his agent can get any money back is through the courts. The court system will hear both sides of the story if the tenant can be found.

If the tenant does not owe thousands in rent it will be child's play to prove with bank records. It is possible that the tenant did not trash the house but instead did a moonlight flit, and by the time the landlord regained possession (legally, through the courts) the house was trashed by person(s) unknown ... in which case the tenant is liable. Or perhaps the landlord took illegal possession due to a non paying tenant in which case the courts won't be too impressed.

What other scenarios are there? Maybe the tenant did a moonlight flit ... with the letting agent's wife and the agent trashed the house as revenge. :rotfl:

david29dpo

Good reply (as always)
Its just if i was in the OP position, i would want to get to the bottom of this before i wrote off a friend.
If the LA are telling the truth, i would pass on the address of the friend to the LL IF he/she asked.

Fire_Fox

david29dpo wrote: »

Good reply (as always)
Its just if i was in the OP position, i would want to get to the bottom of this before i wrote off a friend.
If the LA are telling the truth, i would pass on the address of the friend to the LL IF he/she asked.

I see your point, but the letting agent has supplied photos of the damage. The friend is probably not going to admit they spent the rent on crack, trashed the place whilst high and skipped town with the letting agent's crack ho.