Landlords and prospective Tenants Credit Checks

flier

We have been lucky enough in the past to have had the same tenants in our property for 5 years. However, quite a lot of legislation has changed,one of which is that Landlords have to pay for credit checks on tenants. Our Agent wants to charge us £50 for this, and I'd like to know what other LLs do, do they do them themselves, or get agents to do them, and if you do them yourself, how do you go about it? We're in Scotland

G_M

flier wrote: »

.... quite a lot of legislation has changed,one of which is that Landlords have to pay for credit checks on tenants. Our Agent wants to charge us £50 for this, and I'd like to know what other LLs do,

Ah! Scotland! I was going to ask what new legislation but....

Down here in Eng it is entirely voluntary.

Personally I do checks myself:

* employer (I both ring, and write, and never use a phone number provided by the applicant: always look it up myself)

* previous landlord - if possible (but bear in mind he might be desperate to get rid of a bad tenant.....)

* credit search: Letsure; Paragonadvance, Homelet and many more-use google.

* ID check of course (passport etc)

* possibly bank statement to double check ID and see salary going in

anselld

G_M wrote: »

Ah! Scotland! I was going to ask what new legislation but....

Down here in Eng it is entirely voluntary.

AFAIK it is voluntary in Scotland too. You just can't charge the T for it.

flier

So, what check are regarded as the norm for LLs to carry out on a prospective tenant?

G_M

flier wrote: »

So, what check are regarded as the norm for LLs to carry out on a prospective tenant?

Errrr..... did you read post 2 above?

whalster

Yes all above as GM says also google the court reports and use social media to your advantage time and time I have had a good looking/sounding tenant then look them up on Facebook and think not a cat in hells chance !
Also use street view to check what kind of property they say they are coming out of compared to what they are wanting to go into.
It is all easy stuff and not worth eighty or ninety pounds a referencing agency will charge .you will do a better job yourself ,as said many do it but private landlord directory.com charge £8 for experian check.
Combine all the above with gut instinct I know reading Posts a lot GM has a more black and white attitude which probably works fine but myself I have a number of tenants who have failed a credit check but who have been open about it from the outset and turn out to be very good and reliable and stay in a long time as they know an agent would be black and white too

Road_Hog

G_M wrote: »

Personally I do checks myself:

* employer (I both ring, and write, and never use a phone number provided by the applicant: always look it up myself)going in

That reminds me of the time that I had to rent, I was moving around the country because of my job. It was a corporate let, as in my company was paying for the rental and deposit - I paid and claimed it back on expenses.

I remember speaking to the lettings agent after agreeing on a property and saying that I would get my company to confirm in writing my salary. To which they said, don't worry about that, we phoned your HR dept. and they told us over the phone your salary.

You may think that it was some tinpot company that would do that, but it was Honda (UK) - not a dealer, the UK manufacturer/head office.

I almost crashed the car (yes, it was a mobile phone but with a proper fitted hands free car kit). I just couldn't believe that a large company would just hand out my salary details to some estate agent over the phone.

flier

G_M wrote: »

Errrr..... did you read post 2 above?

Your reply was very much appreciated G_M. However, I always find it useful to get a rounded view from more than 1 source. What is standard to you may not be standard to others, hence my further question.

chanz4

I don't feel agency checks are done, when my staff rented they didn't even contact me for an employer check and the employee said no searches had been done as they were monitoring their file.

Remember agencys rip both tenant and letting agents off on these fees, after all its in their intrest

theartfullodger

There is no law saying landlord pays: There is simply a law (back to 1984 or earlier..) saying tenants may not be, cannot be, charged: Agents & landlords ignored that so big 'eck tightened the law up. An agent can and some do pay for the checks themselves.

You should run a "full check". I have used RLA or NLA tenant checks - not sure if SaL have a supplier. (You are SaL member? If not, join & learn). Last check I paid for was £23 - nothing against a year's rental. Get copies of DL/Passport & payslips also. If tenant not willing to provide find another tenant. You don't need the info to let the place but will find finding them if they inexplicable disappear owing funds much easier with that info...

Don't forget deposit protection now mandatory also...

You & property are registered??

flier

Thanks the artfullodger, we're not currently members of SAL, but I'll look into that, thanks. Yes, we are all registered etc.