Potential Tenant has CCJ on credit need ADVICE

misskittin1978

Hi landlords out there I need your advice
I have a couple who would like to rent my two bed house, £600/ month. The lady's credit is fine, she earns 23k/ years. Her partner has a bad credit and has a CCJ from 2011 on his report for £13k debt, his wage is 25k/year (and is separated has two young kids) !! If it was the lady on her own, I would have said OK as 23k is enough to pay for the rent. BUT I feel fearful about her partner and the CCJ/bad credit ! What would you do ? I don't want to grab the first applicants out of desperation, better lose a month rent and wait for a better prospective tenant to show up ?
Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it.

G_M

13K debt?

Accept a months further void and re-advertise.

Annisele

G_M wrote: »

13K debt?

Accept a months further void and re-advertise.

I agree - there's no point checking T's credit history if you then ignore the results. If the Ts are a couple, then her income may very well end up used to pay his debts.

ACG

Why not ask for 3-6 months rent as a deposit?

I moved into a flat about a year ago before i purchased my house, i failed their credit check (still to this day i have no idea how as i have 1 late payment in 6 years!), they asked me to pay 6 months rent upfront. Not ideal, but i had nothing to hide and had the money in my bank so i paid it.

I got it all back at the end and no issues.

However, having said that... i always go with my first instincts. Have you met the couple? What were they like? Did you ask about the debt? If not, why not - its a reasonable question.

It could be that he was self employed and the recession put his business under - does that make him a bad person? If he had 4 defaults for £100 i would be more worried about that than i would be of 1 default for £13k as 4 defaults shows form for a lack of payment.

Richard_Watters

I have a number of tenants who have failed credit checks and I always believe in giving them an opportunity IF they pass other tests, i.e. :

Do they seem like decent people?
Have they got a good/genuine reason for moving?
What's the condition of their current property?
Will current landlord give them a good reference and confirm no arrears?

Not everyone is perfect and if they pass the above then depending on how confident I feel I'll ask for a home-owning Guarantor, and/or a higher bond and/or more rent in advance.

My experience is that the tenants who can do this are the type I want - grateful, decent and likely to stay long term.

grifferz

ACG wrote: »

Why not ask for 3-6 months rent as a deposit?

Can be problematic..

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/deposits.htm

The Amount of the Deposit

The amount of the deposit should be a maximum of two months' rent. If the deposit is more than this amount it could in theory count as a premium and may give the tenant an automatic right to assign the lease without the landlord's consent.

Also a deposit is not like rent and cannot be treated identically. It must be protected, obviously.


I'd ask for rent in advance.

buddabudda

If you would have rented it out to her with a household income of 23k.... it seems odd to not rent it out with a household income of 48k.

One CCJ from 2 years ago for one of the parties isnt a perfect indicator of future behaviour for both parties. Likewise you could rent out to someone with a perfect credit score and have them not paying rent on time.

Reference from their current/past landlords is probably a decent indicator.

G_M

Beats me why landlords bother with credit referencing..

whalster

GM I also have a number of tenants with not so secure credit history,what I would say to the OP is did the tenant tell you he had doubts about his credit history or come straight out and say he had a CCJ ? If so he is being straight with you open and honest and in those circumstances if everything else pans out then I would take him on .
What you must also consider is that if his partner was able to afford the house on her own they could have been underhand by her just taking the tenancy and him ' staying there' sometimes
GM as you will know credit check results are often meaningless without all the other elements of a refference however the ' point ' of a credit check is the fear of one and what it brings out beforehand

chanz4

Could be the ex didnt pay, and both got done. If one pays witha good credit give it a 6 month agreement

Old_Git

I am about to rent to someone who had his house repossessed .I know his credit rating is stuffed but he will be a good tenant .