Stringent checks?

[Crimsongirl]

Hi All,

Noted comments regarding similar situations on here - all useful.

Have been victim twice now to 2 poor tenants - arrears, stalling, leaving property in mess etc.

Now recovered property and wish to protect myself as much as possible. Although, I do note one particular comment ' no tenant better than bad one'.

If I request credit check (not sure how to do this!) would I need to have guarantor too?

Would like to take photo's of condition of property and ask tenant to sign back and agree condition, is this reasonable request?

Would also like tenant to pay DD or standing order - is there any difference in either of these?

Also, deposit - is the norm 2 months rent plus one deposit?

Any thoughts or advise very much appreciated....

Thanks

[Matthew]

Hi Crimson,

I have only just started letting a property since October, but when I researched it I found Rentchecks to be the best credit checker.

Check out the website rentchecks.com, I ordered 5 advance reports and these look at 6 year credit history and check their job is cosher, previous landlord(S), and check their bank account and passport is valid.

All for approx £20. You then get a report in around 2 to 3 days saying whether how high risk the tenant is. All five came back as low risks, anything other than this I would avoid.

When I looked at DD it seemed that you needed to be a company to set these up and seemed long winded. There doesn't seem alot of point to it as the tenant can cancel it whenever they want, as with a Standing order.

Just give the tenant your bank account number, sort code and the name of the bank. Also ensure they know that if they arrange for it to leave their account one day it will take five to reach yours (average).

I think the norm is 1 month rent, 1 deposit. Increase this if you want to take a tenant without a lowrisk rating and also make deposit equal at least the value goods/furniture as a rule.

Good luck!

[Chris Knight]

Leaseguard are a partner of Residential Landlord and we offer a Tenant Referencing service via directly to landlords or via letting agents. Please see our website for more details. www.leaseguard.co.uk

[fleming]

I would suggest you learn as much as possible about how to do a good inventory, or pay a good company to do one. Any photos have to be signed by the tenant and landlord on each page, same with inventory. If you don't already have a tenant, I strongly recommend checking them in and out at the beginning and end of the tenancy. This means taking the time to go round the property and getting them to sign that they agree with your inventory.(Allow 1hr for this if unfurnished property) With the introduction of Tency Deposit Scheme in April, this will be even more important as an aid to sorting out any disputes over use of the deposit at the end of the tenancy. I used Rentchecks and they saved me from allowing a couple with over £3.000 of CCJs to become my tenants. I also feel that one month's deposit is not enough, although this is what I charged in the end. It is becoming more common to accept 1 1/2 months deposit. This way, if the tenant doesn't pay the last month's rent, you still have a bit of money for repairs. You cannot stop a tenant from cancelling a Standing Order but it still better to have one set up so the rent goes straight into your account each month. Allow 3 days for it to clear so don't panic if the rent isn't in your account on the due date. It also means you have an official record of what rent has been paid.