Accept Tenant with CCJ?

LangLandlord

Hi there,

We're currently trying to let out our rental property which has been occupied for 4 years and now we need a new tenant

After 2+ weeks advertising we've only had one offer.....

T1 earns in excess of 30k but has failed credit check due to CCJ for £160.

T2 earns 15k and passed credit check,

They have offered an guarantor for the rent. (credit check underway)

We are still unsure about accepting a tenant with a failed credit score.

Any help / advice / thoughts etc would be appreciated.

Cheers

RAS

Can T1 prove the CCJ has been satisfied? How recently was it? Any explanation?

princeofpounds

2 tenants, one of which is clean (if a little poor) and a guarantor who is presumably also likely to be clean?

I'd probably do it, given the joint liability they all share, if I had a sensible explanation over what the CCJ was about.

Even if you asked me to decide without an explanation, I'd still probably err on the yes side.

But it's your choice.

jjlandlord

Same as RAS.

Amount of CCJ is very small and income is much better, so that CCJ should not be a deal-breaker in itself, especially if you ask for a guarantor on top of it.

lee111s

When was the CCJ issued? What was it for and is it settled?

Alias_Omega

You need a few more details here. You dont have enough info.

How much is the rent compared to income? Will you accept DSS..Housing Benefit? Will the tenant need to top-up if needed, if so how much?

How much will your Landlord Insurance go up if you take DSS..etc

Is one likely to go from Employment to DSS?

If a couple, do both work? What car do they drive? Do they have 2 cars? (One car, and a banger...then you might think no disposable income).

Tenant 1 - Age? Couple? What line of work? How long have they worked there?

Tenant 2 - Age? Couple? What line of work? How long have they worked there?

slopemaster

LangLandlord wrote: »

... failed credit check due to CCJ for £160.

Did they warn you about the CCJ?
Or did they try to hide it?

I accepted a tenant with CCJs (but good salary) nearly 2 years back, and it has turned out fine. But they were upfront about it from the beginning.
I would be dubious about someone who just waited to see if it came out.

LangLandlord

Thanks all for the responses...

The guarantor is now being credit checked and we await results.

I now have confirmation from both tenant's employer's that they earn what they say they do and also that they have contracts longer than the initial rental period (6 months).

Rent is £625pcm so based on the fact they have a joint net income of over £3k per month I think the rent:income ratio should be fine.

T1 is an engineer with a local manufacturing company (which I've searched and seems to be doing well)

T2 is a care worker.


The tenant didn't declare the CCJ and claims that he was not aware of it so is looking into it now... I'm meeting them tomorrow so will ask again about. So it is still outstanding.

The letting agent has assured me that the rest of the credit checks have come back fine and that apart from the CCJ neither of them has any "adverse credit".

We're leaning towards accepting them now subject to a positive credit check on the guarantor and following us meeting them but again any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated?

Thanks again....

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

If the guarantor comes back clean, I'd be inclined to accept. It sounds like they have suitable income - if the CCJ were for previous rent arrears then that would be another matter.

Alias_Omega

We let our house to a tenant with a CCJ for 2 years. They paid.

Does having a CCJ mean that they wont pay? Of course not. You can not have a CCJ, and stil not pay.

Just be sure that the CCJ is not for Non-Payment of rent. Its probably something that went to an old address...

We also took a Guarentor. We understood that the paperwork was useless if the EA did it, as really a solicitor should do the paperwork, so that the Guarentor knows what they are getting into...but this costs.. £££

Check Landlord Zone for more info on this.

Game_Over

LangLandlord wrote: »

Hi there,

We're currently trying to let out our rental property which has been occupied for 4 years and now we need a new tenant

After 2+ weeks advertising we've only had one offer.....

T1 earns in excess of 30k but has failed credit check due to CCJ for £160.

T2 earns 15k and passed credit check,

They have offered an guarantor for the rent. (credit check underway)

We are still unsure about accepting a tenant with a failed credit score.

Any help / advice / thoughts etc would be appreciated.

Cheers

Why do you trouble yourself credit checking potential tenants if you are not going to act on the information you receive? :huh: