Landlord asking for too much information?

MissMoneypenny

They need 10 months. They are students.

poppy10_2

The landlord could already be in arrears, it's conceivable that a rented house could be repossessed within a 6 month rental contract. It's a real dilemma for me, as there are plenty of cheap city centre flats to rent for me to choose from, but I have no way of knowing how deep into the doo-doo the landlord's finances are. Time for compulsory credit checks on landlords as well as tenants.

eco-friendly_2

poppy10 wrote: »

The landlord could already be in arrears, it's conceivable that a rented house could be repossessed within a 6 month rental contract. It's a real dilemma for me, as there are plenty of cheap city centre flats to rent for me to choose from, but I have no way of knowing how deep into the doo-doo the landlord's finances are. Time for compulsory credit checks on landlords as well as tenants.

The LL could also be a vampire! and might fly through your daughters window and bite her neck.

My daughter has found a house to rent with friends in her second year at university.
The landlord is asking for a photocopy of her National Insurance card, the page on her passport with her signature on and some other things I can't remember at the moment. Also her Dad is going to be guanantor and they want to know his National Insurance number and his employers address.
Is this normal?

Normally I just toss a coin! heads you get it, tails you.......

poppy10_2

eco-friendly wrote: »

The LL could also be a vampire! and might fly through your daughters window and bite her neck.

???

Lavendyr

eco-friendly wrote: »

The LL could also be a vampire! and might fly through your daughters window and bite her neck.

If you're trying to imply that it's unlikely that the LL may be repossessed, it's really not, incidentally. It's happened to me (as a tenant) within 4 months of a 6 month contract before.

MissMoneypenny

Lavendyr wrote: »

If you're trying to imply that it's unlikely that the LL may be repossessed, it's really not, incidentally. It's happened to me (as a tenant) within 4 months of a 6 month contract before.

I did read in here (not sure if it is true) that as long as the LL has told their lender they are letting the property, then the lender will honour the contract if the LL gets repossessed. I guess tenants need to see proof that the LL has permission to rent the property or get a credit check on the LL.

I suspect we are going to see more BTLers repossessed as the credit crunch bites.

tbs624

Georgiabay wrote: »

My daughter has found a house to rent with friends in her second year at university.
The landlord is asking for a photocopy of her National Insurance card, the page on her passport with her signature on and some other things I can't remember at the moment. Also her Dad is going to be guanantor and they want to know his National Insurance number and his employers address.
Is this normal?

It is standard practice these days to ask for such forms of identification - your daughter is going to be living in a property worth thousands of pounds and the landlord needs to know that the person moving in is who they say they are. (However, I personally would offer just the passport information or a driving licence - lots of places ask for NI card numbers for all sorts of things these days and they were never intended as a form of identity card).

Personal information such as this is definitely needed for a credit check to be completed. If your husband is intending to act as a guarantor it is appropriate for a credit check to be done on him as well. There is no purpose in having someone guarantee the rent if they wouldn’t be in a financial position to pay off their son or daughter’s debts. If you were guaranteeing your daughter’s purchase of something on HP you’d be expected to give similar information.

Some landlords will have stipulations within their own insurances or mortgages that mean that they have to take up appropriate checks. Others may be happy to take the risk, either because they have so many properties they can afford to take a chance, or because they have no mortgage, or because they aren’t complying with the terms of their insurance policies.( If they go with the “sloppy paperwork” method it could also mean that they are trying to let property without complying with other legislation, or not declaring rental income on their tax returns.)

You or your daughter could always try talking to the landlord and explain your concerns, asking if there is any other way to deal with their verification needs. However, essentially, it’s the landlord’s house and those are his terms before anyone can live there, which IMO are not unreasonable. Your daughter always has the option to try elsewhere.

tbs624

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek: I would never give that information to a stranger.

All my student children did for all of their student houses (6 houses in total) was pay the deposit, pay rent up front and sign the contract. I even signed as guarantor for a house for my daughter and all I did was sign the contract.

Has the LL shown evidence that they have got permission from the lender to rent the house out?

Your first and last sentences are interesting. You don't want to give more information to a landlord but you want a landlord to give more information to you?

SouthCoast

This sounds like discrimination to me, as students are renowned as excellent tenants.

Georgiabay

Thanks for your (varied) answers.
I've found out now that the landlord is not just a one man band but a very large company. I've Googled them and they've got hundreds of properties, many of them newly refurbished so I feel better now.