Landlord Gave Bad Reference

Brum2307

The question was: Would you describe the tenant as a good tenant? He answered No. I have asked him about this and tried to get him to explain this in terms of moving forward between me and the landlord or perhaps talking it through with him in order for me to move forward however his response was 'I cant answer that.' I have tried but it just feels as if he has done all this, knowing I would not be successful securing that new property I had applied for. The letting agent even provided me with a letter backing me up with a full explanation of what had happened to try and assist me with the new property. He could not explain to the reference company or to myself exactly why he put No as to if I was a good tenant. Totally unfair. 

Brum2307

csgohan4 said:

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

If only we were all so perfect and no one ever made a mistake! That's another thing, there was no inventory. No list of defects. He isn't daft. I had to take pictures and email the letting agent and landlord regarding all defects I noticed when I first moved in. His reply back then was 'yes I am fully aware of all the defects with the property.' Well does he not think I should have been made aware of them? No doubt that will be the next battle with him when I move out, trying to con me out of the deposit.  

I have everything crossed I just get this new place now and can move on. 

[Deleted User]

I think you should read the sticky at the top of the board about Tenancies in England and Wales. Particularly the sections about ending a tenancy and deposits. 

Slithery

Brum2307 said:

That's another thing, there was no inventory. No list of defects. He isn't daft. I had to take pictures and email the letting agent and landlord regarding all defects I noticed when I first moved in. His reply back then was 'yes I am fully aware of all the defects with the property.' Well does he not think I should have been made aware of them? No doubt that will be the next battle with him when I move out, trying to con me out of the deposit.

Yes, he is daft. Without an inventory he had no way of proving any damages so wouldn't be able to deduct from your deposit. It would have better for you if you had left things as they were instead of providing him with an inventory which can now be used as evidence.

[Deleted User]

Brum2307 said:

The question was: Would you describe the tenant as a good tenant? He answered No. I have asked him about this and tried to get him to explain this in terms of moving forward between me and the landlord or perhaps talking it through with him in order for me to move forward however his response was 'I cant answer that.' I have tried but it just feels as if he has done all this, knowing I would not be successful securing that new property I had applied for. The letting agent even provided me with a letter backing me up with a full explanation of what had happened to try and assist me with the new property. He could not explain to the reference company or to myself exactly why he put No as to if I was a good tenant. Totally unfair. 

You should probably make peace with the fact that he was perfectly entitled to conclude that you were not a good tenant, because you did not pay any rent on time for 6 months.
So he has a valid reason to give, why he doesn't just say it, I have no idea.

brianposter

I find this blaming the OP totally inappropriate. If the OP had handed over a cheque to the estate agent and the agent had failed to cash the cheque, there could be serious repercussions if this were reported as having failed to pay.

And a completed standing order form is very little different from a a series of deferred cheques.

The OP should ask the ICO in writing if the circumstances should be reported as a failure to pay.

[Deleted User]

brianposter said:

I find this blaming the OP totally inappropriate. If the OP had handed over a cheque to the estate agent and the agent had failed to cash the cheque, there could be serious repercussions if this were reported as having failed to pay.

And a completed standing order form is very little different from a a series of deferred cheques.

The OP should ask the ICO in writing if the circumstances should be reported as a failure to pay.

The tenants contractual obligation to the landlord is to pay the rent by the due date. The estate agent is not a party to the contract.

brianposter

[Deleted User] said:

The tenants contractual obligation to the landlord is to pay the rent by the due date. The estate agent is not a party to the contract.

Irrelevant nonsense ! The estate agent is the landlords agent.

[Deleted User]

brianposter said:

[Deleted User] said:

The tenants contractual obligation to the landlord is to pay the rent by the due date. The estate agent is not a party to the contract.

Irrelevant rubbish ! The estate agent is the landlords agent.

Indeed, the letting agent works for the landlord and there will be a contract between the landlord and his/her agent.  The tenancy agreement on the other hand is between the tenant and the landlord, not the letting agent, and it's that contract that means the tenant is meant to pay £X and by when.

AdrianC

brianposter said:

If the OP had handed over a cheque to the estate agent and the agent had failed to cash the cheque, there could be serious repercussions if this were reported as having failed to pay.

And a completed standing order form is very little different from a a series of deferred cheques..

Are you confusing DD and SO?

A standing order is set up unilaterally on the payer's end - the OP's end.
It's a DD that is set up from the payee's end.

If you want to draw a parallel with paying by cheque, this situation is akin to the OP simply forgetting to write and post the cheque every month.

This only escalated to six months debt in the way it did because the agent and landlord were just as lax in their basic book-keeping as the OP was.