Renting reference fees? Worried in case we don't pass, will we if we have a guarantor

jadex91

Me and my partner are looking to rent a place soon but both of us don't have very good credit scores. Letting agency's want about £200 a person to do checks! We haven't rented in the past. My partner has a mortgage but we want somewhere bigger and due to his poor credit rating he is unable to buy another mortgage! I'm worried in case we don't pass these checks as also my partner has two ccjs, they don't add up to a lot but its still there and they are settled. His dad has said he will be a guarantor, does this mean we will DEFINAELY be accepted then? As we don't have money to throw away thank you x

BitterAndTwisted

Is his Dad a homeowner with enough income to pay the whole of your rent for the entire duration of the tenancy? If the answer is "no" then you haven't got a chance in hell.


Those two CCjs are going to be a terrible handicap for a very long time.

jadex91

Yes he is he owns his own company! And he owns his home.,

OddballJamie

Some LL will allow you to pay six months upfront if you have bad credit, not sure this will help you though.

shonzyd

declare the ccjs upfront - see what they say

Werdnal

shonzyd wrote: »

declare the ccjs upfront - see what they say

I tend to agree with this. If you know oyu are going to fail the check anyway, you are throwing away £200 each for nothing before you start.

Be honest, landlords tend to appreciate that . Explain the circumstances - as it is you may be chucking 400 quid down the drain and getting nothing in return - atleast if the agents know, they may decline you now, or may give you benefit of the doubt and allow a guarantor/rent in advance arrangement.

Are you able to get good references, working, earning enough to cover the rent etc? It doesn't always come down just to the CCJ's, but they will definately have an impact.

The agents will (or should) also credit check and reference your Dad, but if he is financially stable and able to prove it, he should be accepted.

view

STOP!

£200 is ridiculous. Our agency tried this on us also, I said, no I will do all the work and give you the references.

I went onto our credit file and gve them a "snapshot" ie: only the stuff they NEEDED to see

I had our work places provide a letter re salary

I had previous landlord provide a letter

etc..

They werne't happy but had to accept it. You can challenge it!

Cost to us was £0.00, only our time.

alta

view wrote: »

STOP!

£200 is ridiculous. Our agency tried this on us also, I said, no I will do all the work and give you the references.

I went onto our credit file and gve them a "snapshot" ie: only the stuff they NEEDED to see

I had our work places provide a letter re salary

I had previous landlord provide a letter

etc..

They werne't happy but had to accept it. You can challenge it!

Cost to us was £0.00, only our time.

This is very unusual as this is not a qualified reference. Any repritual agent would not accept this. Look at it this way....if you were a landlord you would want to make sure the people that were going into your property were not only able to pay the rent, but they had the job they say they have, earn what they say they earn, have no adverse credit. Also if they are a tenant at prescient then a LL reference also. Anybody can write a reference or answer a phone and confirm what you say, but a professional referencing agency will only take information they can qualify.

view

alta wrote: »

This is very unusual as this is not a qualified reference. Any repritual agent would not accept this. Look at it this way....if you were a landlord you would want to make sure the people that were going into your property were not only able to pay the rent, but they had the job they say they have, earn what they say they earn, have no adverse credit. Also if they are a tenant at prescient then a LL reference also. Anybody can write a reference or answer a phone and confirm what you say, but a professional referencing agency will only take information they can qualify.

of course nothing was done over the phone! that would be daft, all information in writing, legit and qualified. The agency could and did investigate everything themselves, I just wasn't going to pay £180 for the privilege. OP don't let it put you off, doesn't hurt to ask.