Details of prospective tenants from estate agent? Am I being intrusive?

Debbyc

Due to financial challenges, I am having to move out my house to a smaller place. I really CANNIT afford to be carefree about the tenant, NO MATTER THE INSURANCE.

Agent brought a couple, but did not even give me their names. They have now called to notify me that they want my house. All they have said is that they earn 3x the rent pa, wife works part-time for now and having 2nd baby in a few months, husband self-employed. They are having to sell own house.

I feel this is not enough. I would like to know their names, address, workplace, etc.and undertake basic due diligence. I don't want to seem distrustful or intrusive but I would have thought this should be provided. They claim all they ask is if they earn more than 3x rent and referencing does the rest. However, why should I wait till they have paid for referencing to make an informed judgement? I feel a credit check looks back and may miss recent and future risks???

Are estate agents not allowed to give landlords info that would be in a basic tenants form? Surely if they can bring strangers to one's home, we should know their name and a little more?

Please is this being paranoid?

Thanks.

Pixie5740

Firstly the tenants won't be living in your home. Once you let the property the property will become the tenants' home so you're going to have to get your head around that one.

There are always going to be risks when letting property, the same as there are risks with any kind of investment. There are no guarantees.

The agent works for you. If there is information you want then ask for it.

ognum

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Firstly the tenants won't be living in your home. Once you let the property the property will become the tenants' home so you're going to have to get your head around that one.

There are always going to be risks when letting property, the same as there are risks with any kind of investment. There are no guarantees.

The agent works for you. If there is information you want then ask for it.

Excellent post by Pixie.

Presumably the tenants will be referenced and credit checked.

They may have some financial challenges but then so do you presumably you got a rental property.

Ask for their names and for more information, ask to meet them if you want.

Remember letting is a risk and you can't mitigate all the risk, ask for 3 months rent in advance if you are worried but it may be difficult to find a tenant.

Hope you have spare cash to fund repair issues

dimbo61

If you ask for three months rent up front is that not a premium ?
Should it not therefore be registered as a deposit !
Self employed, wife works part time and about to have second child so four dependants and one self employed earner plus basic maternity pay.
You talk about Insurance ?
Not letting your property to the agents and they are sub letting ?
Guaranteed rent scheme is it ?

Okydoky25

From a ex renters perspective I only wish I could have had more details on the Landlord I was getting when renting a home because I landed myself with some shockers!!

Edited: from experience I would not have rented from you.

Eejay

Why do you need to know their names, address and workplace? Are you going to Google and find out as much as possible about them? Check their Facebook profiles and see what sort of statuses they post - analyse their grammar and spelling and make sure they are deemed intelligent enough to be able to look after the property? Make sure they don't come from a 'dodgy' area? Check their house value and see if it was worth much? If the wife works in a fast food restaurant for example, are you going to let stereotypes influence your opinion of whether she will be a good tenant or not?

I can understand meeting them and having a chat with them - it may be easier to respect one another if you've met, rather than just thinking of each other as landlord/tenant which is a bit cold, formal and impersonal. But any more than that is a bit much really.

My husband is a landlord and he really needed a contact number for his last tenant but the LA wouldn't provide it. He needed to order a new fridge-freezer for her and was having to delay because he couldn't guarantee when she'd be in and didn't want to be wasting the delivery person's time. The LA was adamant he needed to just go ahead and do it without any contact details. Eventually he got it sorted, but the delivery person thought the situation was ridiculous so passed on the tenant's mobile number (with her permission). It worked well for them both - they didn't contact each other often, but when the tenant asked for a new sofa (the other one was absolutely dreadful; a futon with no padding left - it was a wonder she'd put up with it for as long as she had!) it meant that he could organise delivery with no hassle whatsoever and she got it a few days later. He didn't need to know every last detail about her though - I think all he knew was her first name and mobile number, but it was plenty.

jjlandlord

Do ask your agent to provide the prospective tenants' details and full references before accepting to let to them.

Do ignore the noise from some comments...

mart.vader

Debbyc wrote: »

Due to financial challenges, I am having to move out my house to a smaller place. I really CANNIT afford to be carefree about the tenant, NO MATTER THE INSURANCE.

Agent brought a couple, but did not even give me their names. They have now called to notify me that they want my house. All they have said is that they earn 3x the rent pa, wife works part-time for now and having 2nd baby in a few months, husband self-employed. They are having to sell own house.

I feel this is not enough. I would like to know their names, address, workplace, etc.and undertake basic due diligence. I don't want to seem distrustful or intrusive but I would have thought this should be provided. They claim all they ask is if they earn more than 3x rent and referencing does the rest. However, why should I wait till they have paid for referencing to make an informed judgement? I feel a credit check looks back and may miss recent and future risks???

Are estate agents not allowed to give landlords info that would be in a basic tenants form? Surely if they can bring strangers to one's home, we should know their name and a little more?

Please is this being paranoid?

Thanks.

As a Landlord you are allowing people you have never met to occupy your biggest asset, worth at least many thousands of pounds.

You have the right to ask for whatever information you like, to safeguard your property (As others will tell you, it becomes the tenants home, for the duration of the letting, but it remains your property)

The Agent works for you, not the other way round. Once the Agent have their fees, and the tenant has moved in, but then proves to be unsuitable, the agent will quickly wash their hands of you. So make sure the tenants are going to be suitable.

If you don't like the prospective tenants they have introduced, just tell the Agents to keep looking. Also, take a deposit and protect it in the proper way, one month is usual, but if you're cautious, ask for two months.

In my opinion, you should at least be asking, from them or your Agents, for names, previous landlords contact details, employment details (pay and length of employment), financial status (outstanding loans etc.) Make enquiries with prev Landlord as to rent payment and care of the property.

And ask for proof of ID, such as a copy of Passport, so that you know they are who they say they are.

Billie-S

I have to kind of agree with the 2 posts above. (Posts 7 & 8.) Although I don't think you need to know every last little thing about the tenants, I think you have a right to know their name, their current address, their place of work and their contact details. Why on earth should the owner of the property not know these details?

I also agree with 'mart vadar' that you should be allowed to see the proof of ID, like the passport. And if it were me, I would want copies of the things that the agent takes. (Like the passport and references etc...)

I find it most odd that the agent in question would not give the landlord the tenants mobile phone number. (As in post number 6.) He was her landlord FGS, not a debt collector!

Yes it is indeed the tenant's home for the duration, but surely the landlord should know something about the tenants. It's a good idea to meet them first too. Why wouldn't you? And also, don't forget to protect the deposit with a reputable agency.

PasturesNew

As a tenant I'd like to see a LL's bank statements to prove they're paying the mortgage - and a copy of their "permission to let" letter.

Also, what job do they do/where do they live? I don't want bailiffs knocking on the door or to discover they work next door and will be peering through the curtains every time they pass each morning.

Billie-S

PasturesNew wrote: »

As a tenant I'd like to see a LL's bank statements to prove they're paying the mortgage - and a copy of their "permission to let" letter.

Also, what job do they do/where do they live? I don't want bailiffs knocking on the door or to discover they work next door and will be peering through the curtains every time they pass each morning.

But surely you should only want to see the things that the landlord is asking you for? Nobody is asking you for bank statements: only your previous address, your employer, and your contact details. Why on earth should a person letting you rent their property (probably worth six figures,) not have these details from you?

Also, the landlord's address will be on your tenancy agreement, and I am sure they will furnish you with other things that you're keen to know when you meet them.