Landlord Gave Bad Reference

csgohan4

seeing both sides, the onus is still on you to ensure you pay your rent on time, regardless of personal stressors at home. .

if you moved into a property  and didn't register for utility account or check if they were taking money from your account, who's ultimately responsible? The money still needs to be paid. 

you left it for 6 months!. Bare in mind EA/LL have other properties to look after and they do not micromanage all their lets, they may have done an interim audit and found rent was oweing from you. 

Brum2307

The onus is on the landlord to ensure the gas/boiler maintenance service is completed every 12 months but I have never had one in 3.5 years. The onus sis on the landlord to ensure all maintenance issues are dealt with in a timely manner, not making the tenant arrange for plumbers, heating engineers and paying for it to then knock it off next months rent because he is too busy to sort it all out. The onus is on the landlord to ensure boiler breakdowns are sorted ideally within 48hrs, not to leave the tenant without heating/hot water for periods of 2 weeks plus during winter on 5 separate occasions because he couldn't be bothered to follow the advice from British gas to actually get a new boiler! He never even offered me temporary heaters. You see we all make mistakes and mine was a genuine honest mistake along with errors admitted on all parts however I am the one that ends up penalized. The reference companies should not just go with the landlords answers on the reference check form and thats that, well I suppose they didn't to be fair, they did try to establish the facts but my landlord was not willing to explain to them why the rent was not paid. 

[Deleted User]

Those aren’t mistakes the landlord has made, he’s broken the law, and there is nothing stopping you from reporting him to the HSE for a lack of gas safety certificates. The bit about fixing a boiler in 48 hours is bollox though. It just has to be within a reasonable timeframe and a little over 2 weeks is not bad in winter when gas safety engineers are very busy. 

Should anyone ask you for a reference for the landlord asking questions such as, “does he get a gas safety certificate every year,” you could honestly answer, “no.”  

[Deleted User]

Brum2307 said:

The onus is on the landlord to ensure the gas/boiler maintenance service is completed every 12 months but I have never had one in 3.5 years. The onus sis on the landlord to ensure all maintenance issues are dealt with in a timely manner, not making the tenant arrange for plumbers, heating engineers and paying for it to then knock it off next months rent because he is too busy to sort it all out. The onus is on the landlord to ensure boiler breakdowns are sorted ideally within 48hrs, not to leave the tenant without heating/hot water for periods of 2 weeks plus during winter on 5 separate occasions because he couldn't be bothered to follow the advice from British gas to actually get a new boiler! He never even offered me temporary heaters. You see we all make mistakes and mine was a genuine honest mistake along with errors admitted on all parts however I am the one that ends up penalized. The reference companies should not just go with the landlords answers on the reference check form and thats that, well I suppose they didn't to be fair, they did try to establish the facts but my landlord was not willing to explain to them why the rent was not paid. 

I think the referencing company have done a good job. They have ascertained in the usual manner that you did not pay rent on time. You have stated why this happened and that eventually you cleared the arrears but I can say that I would not be renting my property to you based on your failure to pay rent on time and also because of your dishonest approach. It's pretty clear that you wanted the new landlord to know nothing about your failure to pay on time. Both you and the old landlord were negiligent in a number of ways, but the new landlord only proposes a relationship with you and why should he enter into a contract with anyone other than someone who has a history of making rental payments on time?

wannabe_a_saver

He's stitched you right up.  He's manipulated you into giving your notice to guarantee himself another 6 months rent from a good tenant. 

Sorry. 

Brum2307

Exactly. If I was such a bad tennant then why on earth did he allow me to renew my tenancy for a further 6 months to then allow it to become a rolling month by month contract to a point where I am now 3.5 years down the line. He should have said No, you failed to pay rent and are apparently a bad tenant so therefore you cannot renew your contract. He has admitted there have been no issues at all since that one error that evidentially and admittedly was not solely my fault. I get it, the rent was not noticed as not paid until I realised and dealt with it immediately. I remember him saying at the time that he was glad I had noticed and was pleased that I made steps to immediately pay it off. It simply just was an error. He has even attempted to change the bad reference to a good one! In a way that's him admitting that he has given a false statement other wise he would stick to his guns and stand by his original reference. He keeps messaging me saying that the offer to sign a new 6 month contract is still available. 

csgohan4

Brum2307 said:

Exactly. If I was such a bad tennant then why on earth did he allow me to renew my tenancy for a further 6 months to then allow it to become a rolling month by month contract to a point where I am now 3.5 years down the line. He should have said No, you failed to pay rent and are apparently a bad tenant so therefore you cannot renew your contract. He has admitted there have been no issues at all since that one error that evidentially and admittedly was not solely my fault. I get it, the rent was not noticed as not paid until I realised and dealt with it immediately. I remember him saying at the time that he was glad I had noticed and was pleased that I made steps to immediately pay it off. It simply just was an error. He has even attempted to change the bad reference to a good one! In a way that's him admitting that he has given a false statement other wise he would stick to his guns and stand by his original reference. He keeps messaging me saying that the offer to sign a new 6 month contract is still available. 

So the LL was asked a question: Did tenant pay on time

Why do you think they should say Yes? nothing you have written suggest otherwise. The other LL short comings has nothing to do with YOUR reference. 

The fact they gave you another 6 months does not have any bearing on the reference either, nor is it an indication of how good or bad a tenant you are. It's not like they could evict you within 6 months, so chose the path of least resistance. Could also mean how desperate they are, tenants are difficult to find in your area. 

You are aware rolling contracts are that, and has no bearing of judgement of your character or actions. it is also the same flipped the other way, if you renewed and lived there for 3.5 years, you were clearly happy with the LL weren't you?


Are you advocating that the LL should lie on a form? This says everything about you and would agree with the poster previous about not renting to you given your actions. 

Brum2307

I have rented 5 properties and had my own house before this rental property. I have never had a bad reference at all. All my income and employment references were absolutely fine. You cannot simply say you would not have me as a tenant just from one genuine mistake, and yes, I genuinely did not notice rent not coming out of my account when I had 2 lots of house bills/mortgage/solicitors/house sale things going on during the initial period of me moving into this place. Yes, landlords have multiple properties to deal with, thats not an excuse, they decide to be landlords managing these properties, he should have noticed the non payment of rent also. This place is like a show home, its in a better condition now than when I moved into it!!
I have viewed a different property this morning so hopefully my landlord will stick to his word and provide a positive reference for this new application. 


Thank you all for your opinions. much appreciated. 

Thrugelmir

brianposter said:

Thrugelmir said:

brianposter said:

No reason why he needs to provide such evidence - it is the inferences that the landlord has drawn from the late payment that are incorrect.

The rent wasn't paid on time. No need to draw inferences. That's factual.  Cut to the chase , the rest is irrelevant. 

The landlord describing you as "a bad tenant" is irrelevant ?

Is that what the LL said. Or was an answer to a question asked simply "No".   That's factual with no personal comment made. The user can interpret for themselves. 

csgohan4

Brum2307 said:

I have rented 5 properties and had my own house before this rental property. I have never had a bad reference at all. All my income and employment references were absolutely fine. You cannot simply say you would not have me as a tenant just from one genuine mistake, and yes, I genuinely did not notice rent not coming out of my account when I had 2 lots of house bills/mortgage/solicitors/house sale things going on during the initial period of me moving into this place
-Irrelevant to LL or future LL. Your personal issues are your own

. Yes, landlords have multiple properties to deal with, thats not an excuse, they decide to be landlords managing these properties, he should have noticed the non payment of rent also.

This place is like a show home, its in a better condition now than when I moved into it!!
-irrelevant, has no bearing on reference, your suppose to keep in line with the inventory check list, whether better condition or not, it must be as per list or expect to have deposit deducted

I have viewed a different property this morning so hopefully my landlord will stick to his word and provide a positive reference for this new application. 


Thank you all for your opinions. much appreciated. 

The key thing is, the non payment of rent is something that affects you more in this situation, than the LL. I.e in terms of references. 
You admit it was 'YOUR' mistake, genuine or not, it's still a mistake which the form asks in terms of paying rent on time.  

If your current LL changes his reference, good for you, but all this stress could be avoided by keeping on top of your outgoings and ensuring no anomolies