UK Landlord Forum / Life

I have someone who wants my property but just a little unsure on something but he was truthful with me from the start.

He is for Romania and worked here from 2016-17 but spent most of 18 back home and he has been back in the UK working for 5 months.  He has given me the last 3 months of bank statements and tho he is self employed I can see money coming in.  He has given me a copy of his passport confirming who he is and he is sending me his tax returns for 2016 and 17 to prove his income when he was here.  And I have asked for his current landlord ref which I am waiting for.

Should I reference him anyway even if he does fail the credit check?  English was perfect and he looked clean and tidy and my gut says he is fine.  I looked him up on facebook and instagram which didn't have much on him but his girlfriend who is back home seems to have a really good job over there in PR and mixes with famous people from that country so as a person I think he is genuine but is it still a big risk?

After my last tenant who turned into a heroin addict i'm now paranoid.

You can learn from your experiences, sure, but you absolutely cannot judge a new Tenant by, in any way, relating your choice to what a previous Tenant was or a. What you must do is perform Right to Rent checks and other things that hopefully satisfy you. There's an element of gut feel to things, yes, but you also should try to not say things like "English was perfect"... I'm going to assume your Romanian isn't up to scratch (correct me if I'm wrong)... as it has a whiff of prejudice. If he fails the credit check, but for reasons you understand and if he has been honest from the outset, I'd be minded to... unless I had a string of easy applicants lined-up. And I'd be honest with him too... it goes both ways. Tell him why you're nervous, even. I think you are meeting them for a reason, right?

Do carry out full references on everyone, irrespective of how good their English is.  And my advice would be, never let to someone who fails the credit check -- not even if they seem very charming and you like them very much.

Remember that there can be good reasons for 'failing' a credit check... and good reasons for not even doing one. People who've moved here from abroad, the self-employed, youth. It's important to understand the difference between failing and a "computer says no" situation.

Hippogriff your very right in what you say and my gut said yes he's fine.  So after sleeping on it I said to myself I just want to dig a little deeper.

When I spoke to his landlady the ref was too good to be true and when I checked on land registry who owned the house the name on the deeds was different so when talking to the landlady I asked if she knew this miss Jo Bloggs and she said yes why? and why are you asking?  She said that is my wife and the house is in her name but we are evicting him as we need to sell the house.  They had nightmare lodgers but he was fine.  All our rental properties but 1 are in my wife's name so I thought OK sounds legit.

Found the house for sale online sold STC so I called the estate agent.  I said i'll be honest I am a landlord and the lodger wants my property and I am unsure and I explained what I knew.  They said the house has been empty for 5 months and that the lodgers where all a nightmare to get out.  He said face to face really nice people and paid the deposit and first months rent but that was it no more money coming in.  Looking at his bank statements I can only see 1 rent payment going out so I probably tell him no

Should I hint why? Or just say its too much of a risk and my rent guarantee won't cover it.  The nightmare tenant I had last I found out this week that he was also a pedo so I am checking everyone and not falling for any stories.

 

No, you're under no obligation to say why - but if you want to do it, and hopefully without risking offence, you can just say that you had another prospective Tenant who seemed really keen and you decided to progress with them. But, in normal circumstances, there's no need for you to re-connect with a prospective Tenant, at all... you'll not bump into them, will you?

I'll just tell him I found a more prospective tenant then.  That sounds better.

I thought stuff it for £20 lets double check him.  He is defo no longer at that house but somewhere not to far me (like you say i'll never see him) he is in about £5500 debt and settled a £645 CCJ back in April.  Too much of a risk so if the flat sits around another week or 2 so be it.  Better to waste a few pound then get stung a grand later down the line

I'm about to start my own thread on a similar topic... let's see what advice I get.

Blimey Raiden,you dodged a bullet there.I did take a couple once,no references, because they had literally fled from Zimbabwe when their farm was taken off them.Their son paid the deposit,and they both took low-paid work in a local hotel.They shared the studio flat because it was the lowest rent in the town.They were great tenants for 3 years.However,the other person I trusted told the agents he had been working and travelling round the world for a few years,got homesick and returned to sleep on his gran's sofa.I was unable to meet him,but the agents were impressed with him.True story was he lived up the road,never been further than Coventry.The bit about his gran was right though,as he had been evicted by previous landlord.He was a nightmare,but I did get a nice staffie that he left behind.He had planned to breed from her and sell the pups to clear his debts.

FFS you couldn't make it up.
Ok the next one I've checked out has an unusual surname so just for peace of mind I whacked his name in Google and the area he is from. Well in 2014 a guy with the same name and his age got convicted of rape of an escort!!!! Now I'm thinking it can't be the same guy can it? Looking at his Facebook no activity from 2012 until march this year and he has just started a new job this year. This can't be a coincidence? I think will give him a miss.

Was it not a bit of a giveaway when he listed his previous landlord as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II?

Well when he came and I showed him round he asked all the right questions and looked clean and was one of those gym freaks and into health but when we talked about the deposit he said a charity would be paying it called 'St Mungo's'

I said OK i'll listen to them but I am not promising anything.  A Local landlord spoke to me and said they are usually OK but double check the applicant.  Being a big football fan and him having an unusual surname I googled him and the area he is from as maybe he is related to this footballer.  1st article that came up was a guy with the same name went down for raping a sex worker at knife point!!!  I said to my wife look at his facebook, references etc do you think its the same guy and she said 90% sure plus look at his facebook no activity for years so I bet he went inside and has just come out.  I emailed him this morning saying sorry I will not be going a head and he was asking me why and getting all moody about it saying why do you think I am a risk.  I said ill level with you and you better be honest.  Was you convicted of a crime in this area in 2014 and he said yes but i'm a changed man. 

Sorry but no.  I have my young niece living in the flat above and its a risk I don't need to take.     

St.Mungo's is in London,they have hostels for people sleeping rough.I know of them because they are the only ones I know of who let people take their dogs in with them.I don't blame you,even if you did not have your niece nearby.