Landlord Rating Websites

Guest101

PersianCatLady wrote: »

To be fair that's no different to tripadvisor or any other review site
If I said that a hotel I stayed at was rubbish and gave them a crap TripAdvisor review then in future I would probably stay somewhere else.


If I slated my LL on a review site and at some point in the future I was trying to get another tenancy and the review came up, I think that the new LL would be much less likely to want me as a tenant and the way things are now it is getting harder and harder to find rental properties.


I just don't see the benefit for the OP of making a big deal over what his LL has done to him.

I meant your reference to employers refusing work......

always_sunny

studentguy wrote: »

Are there any Landlord review websites that I can post to, so I can at least try and stop someone else going through what I've been through?

There are few but I don't think they're really used. Mostly are from disgruntled or tenants who had some bad experience. Like other review sites usually they are used to vent negative opinions...

mgrint

What a coincidence! I've just launched a website for reviewing landlords and rental proeprties that I thought MSE might be interested in.

It's called Rent Rat. I can't actually post the link as I'm a new user but it's rentrat followed by .co.uk. It's very early stages and I'm just testing it so would really appreciate any feedback. I'm hoping that it will help level the playing field for renters such as myself.

If you do have any feedback please let me know and if you like it I would be enormously grateful if you would spread the work.

All the best!
Matt

AdrianC

Am I missing something about that website?

Anonymous poster... but living at this address. No, the landlord won't have a bloody clue who that is, will they?

mgrint

It's more for former tenants in higher turnover areas (such as student properties, London etc.) who would like to give feedback on a previous landlord or property, such as the original poster of this thread!

PersianCatLady

It's more for former tenants in higher turnover areas
Some questions -


What due diligence will you be doing to ensure that reviewers are only submitting reviews for properties that they actually rented and lived in?


How will you be verifying that the identify of the reviewers to stop people other than past tenants using your website to leave derogatory reviews of properties and LLs?


What action have you taken to ensure that your website will comply with the requirements of the Defamation Act 2013?

mgrint

Under the Act we have to keep records of reviewers, even if they are listed as Anonymous on the main page, and be able to pass these on if there is any legal action. We also have to be able to respond to takedown requests appropriately within 48 hours. If we have these procedures in place then we have protection under Section 5.

We give landlords and agents the ability to respond on the page and to report any item to us they feel is inaccurate or incorrect, in the same manner as other review websites. Like any other online comment forum (such as this!) we won't be doing individual due diligence to check that every review is factually accurate before it is posted but we will moderate and monitor posts.

Do you have knowledge of this area? Additional advice is always useful! The current process was pulled together with the help of a lawyer but second and third opinions would be great.

Cheers!

theartfullodger

As a start a regime where all landlords must be registered (if not fine of up to £50k..) and must be a "fit & proper person" and you can see on a publicly, free, viewable site who is landlord for what property would be a start. Oh, and no letting agent or landlord fees,....

i.e. like in Scotland, now. Come on Engerland, catch up!

There have been, possibly still are, tenant review sites for landlords: A right minefield for libel etc.. I've steered well clear...

Cheers!

PersianCatLady

Additional advice is always useful!
I think that what you are trying to do could be amazing if it is done properly and not abused by people for their own purposes.


The main issue that I see is how are you going to verify who a poster is and if they are submitting a true or false review.


I do think that it is perfectly acceptable for reviewers to appear anonymous on the site itself but I do think that you should have some kind of way of verifying that they are who they say they are and that they were a genuine tenant at that address.


Obviously any LL is going to know exactly who made the review as even if you only specify the address of a property most LLs will know exactly who lived there and when.


Honestly it is a bit of a dilemma what to do for the best.


Although I am certain that some of the reviews on Tripdvisor are completely false, the fact that a restaurant (for example) has so many diners and therefore so many reviews makes these false ones not so damaging.


One example of a stupid false review I once saw was for a caf! and the reviewer complained about how awful the lunch food was on the day that they had visited and the like but it was obviously that it was false because when it first opened it was open evenings only. It was a blatant attempt by another eatery to try and damage the reputation of the place.


Ideally the best situation would be if you could actually vet your reviewers and ascertain their authenticity before allowing their reviews to go live on the site.


If I were in your boat I would not want to be permitting anybody to post a review regarding a property and / or a LL without confirming both their identity and the fact that they had been a tenant (maybe by seeing the AST).


However unfortunately I suspect that this would deter a lot of people from posting reviews but unless they are 100% confirmed I think that the reviews will be meaningless.