Landlords Reference Problem

tenbytt

Wonder if anyone can offer any advice please :

I am currently renting a house off my cousin. We have had a huge family split and she has asked me to vacate the house as soon as possible - I am more than happy to do this as there is so much tension in the air at the moment.

Although I have never had a tenancy agreement I have always paid her from the bank via a transfer and I know she has some kind of Landlords insurance on the property so I assume it is all legit.

Now that I am looking for another rental property the estate agents are wanting a Landlords reference.

She has told me that there is no way she will give me one (her exact words were far more choice than that but I wont repeat them here).

A friend of mine has suggested that he poses as my landlord and the estate agents/referencing company can write to him and he will write a reference back. I know this is a little bit underhand BUT my friend knows that every penny of rent has been paid on the dot and that the property has been looked after perfectly!

Thing is, can the referencing company/estate agent actually find out that my friend ISN'T the actual landlord/owner of the property?

I know this is a little dishonest so I would appreciate it if people didn't lecture me on it The family split is worse than you could imagine and I really have to go for the sake of my sanity! I can't think of any other way around it.

Mr_Pitiful

Obtaining a tenancy by false statement could be grounds to evict you from the property and you would have no defence to it. Look for references elsewhere - work / school or anyone willing to give a character reference.

bubblegum1985

My employers gave me my reference as I had previously been living in an owned property before moving to rented.

You could always just say you were living with family is employer ok?

tenbytt

I'm self employed so no employer BUT I can get lots of character references and can even get a guarantor if needed.

anselld

Tell your cousin you will wait to be evicted by the court bailiffs if she does not give you a reference which facilitates you to move as requested. (in whatever choice words you wish)

tenbytt

anselld wrote: »

Tell your cousin you will wait to be evicted by the court bailiffs if she does not give you a reference which facilitates you to move as requested. (in whatever choice words you wish)

Thank you for the post and I know where you are coming from but I just really want to get out now! I really don't want to spend one more minute than necessary in her house.

The rift in the family is very far beyond healing and it's best all round if everyone moves on.

bubblegum1985

Ah right, well I would say a character reference from someone in authority I would say would be fine or a guarentor for the rent. Or agreeing to credit scores (I think they do that as standard).

At the end of the day landlords just want to know that you will pay the rent and not trash the place. You may have to sign a shorter lease to show that you are a good tennant but dont let that put you off.

wanting_an_easy_life

Is a Landlords reference not the same as any other reference, i.e. you could sue them if they made untrue statements?

tom9980

Here is an idea since you are self employed do you buy supplies maybe even on credit from someone? can they give you a reference?