Tenant wants reference from my previous tenant

Superted1512

A prospective tenant (Mr A) has asked if I can put him in touch with a previous tenant in order to obtain a reference for me as a landlord.

Besides being a little impressed at this level of detail & caution by Mr A, his request has taken me by surprise as it's something I've never been asked before!

However, as this is so out of the norm, how will my previous tenants feel about me giving out their details? I would clearly need to ask their permission first, but if they were unwilling?

To add further complication, I like to think that my previous tenants have always thought me to be a fair and decent landlord, however the most recent tenant relationship was soured somewhat when he made a bid to buy a property from me but was unable to get a mortgage. He then turned quite surly and vacated the property he was renting! His communications since then haven't been the friendliest so I'm not confident in him providing an objective reference!

Any thoughts from the MSE community??

thanks
S.

PheoUK

Do you have an alternative reference from another tenant?

If Mr A is reasonable, I would think he would understand the above explanation and take an alternative reference...

Superted1512

PheoUK wrote: »

Do you have an alternative reference from another tenant?

If Mr A is reasonable, I would think he would understand the above explanation and take an alternative reference...

Yes, there are other tenants I can contact. I was more thrown by being asked for the reference and wondered if others had experienced this!

franklee

:rotfl:Hats of to the tenant, what a good idea :T

I'd be asking the tenant before last saying why you're skipping a tenant. I'm sure tenants know how to read around references if things sour, just as prospective landlords do if a reasonable tenant has just had a grumpy landlord ...

SuzieSue

franklee wrote: »

:rotfl:Hats of to the tenant, what a good idea :T

.

Yes, it's a really good idea and I hope more tenants start doing this as it will mean that the bad landlords will have to sharpen their acts or sell up and the good landlords will benefit. My friend who is a very good landlord always tries to get the new tenant to speak to the current tenant for this very reason.

TBagpuss

Great idea!

I agree that asking the last but one tenant would be fine. As you say, i would be essential to ask your former tenants before giving anyone else their details.
You could ask them to let you have a copy of the reference, to show to other prospective tenants, in the future, too.

tumbledowngirl

SuzieSue wrote: »

Yes, it's a really good idea and I hope more tenants start doing this as it will mean that the bad landlords will have to sharpen their acts or sell up and the good landlords will benefit. My friend who is a very good landlord always tries to get the new tenant to speak to the current tenant for this very reason.

The trouble comes when the landlord uses a letting agent to manage the property - the LL might be excellent but the service the tenant receives is only as good as the middleman. I know that the LAs we've used in the past have sometimes been slow to pass on requests from tenants, and also slow to put our instructions in action (eg regarding repairs).

Still, I guess it would sort out the good LAs from the less-good, at least - which can only be a good thing.

silvercar

Obviously a tenant that has lived in the same property is ideal as he can then state any drawbacks with the property as well as commenting on you as a landlord.

I wonder if a cheeky tenant would charge a fee?

The risk is that, whereas a current tenant should show up on the electoral register and can therefore be proven to having been the tenant in the property, a prior tenant could be a personal friend of the landlord masquerading as a happy tenant.

whalster

I have been asked loads of times never bothers me I show them which other doors to knock on and ask .

With my part time work at PLD I also advise people that if they are having to rent thigh an agent then they should check if the landlord is what they have called in recent years a " reluctant landlord" check dead links from rightmove on google to see if the property has been for sale recently .
With the improving market this is becoming more of a problem and if you are looking for a longer term let you may find yourself with a S21 and only have a six month tenancy if the owner decides conditions are right to sell..

I had a couple in a house five years sadly the woman became ill and needed a bungalow ,they moved eight months ago and the same thing happened to them a couple of months since they rang asking if I knew anyone with a bungalow ,I didn't and they had incurred a lot of costs within that six month period

SuzieSue

tumbledowngirl wrote: »

I know that the LAs we've used in the past have sometimes been slow to pass on requests from tenants, and also slow to put our instructions in action (eg regarding repairs).

.

But surely you would stop using them if they were slow as your tenants would be more likely to leave if they got fed up with the LA.

anselld

tumbledowngirl wrote: »

The trouble comes when the landlord uses a letting agent to manage the property - the LL might be excellent but the service the tenant receives is only as good as the middleman. I know that the LAs we've used in the past have sometimes been slow to pass on requests from tenants, and also slow to put our instructions in action (eg regarding repairs).

Still, I guess it would sort out the good LAs from the less-good, at least - which can only be a good thing.

You employ the LA to represent you. Their performance is your responsibility.