UK Landlord Forum / Life

My partner is trying to rent a flat and she is going through the agency's application process. It asks her to disclose if she has a criminal record and any CCJ's etc.

She has an entry on her DBS for not having paid for a train fare some years back. She only discovered the entry years after the event (circa 3 months ago) so I filed a statutory declaration to have it set aside by the MC. She then negotiated with the rail company and paid them off and her DBS will be updated (could be well into May/June). Does she have to declare this? Are they likely to do a basic DBS?

If it was just this to explain, it wouldn't be awful but she is also paying a debt collection agency £20 a month for a historic unpaid utility bill. It goes back some 5 years but the DCA may have taken on the debt in 2023 or so.

I wonder if being transparent could ruin her chances of getting into the flat? She's going to look very dishonest on paper. She's just rather careless and suffers from ADHD but has become more responsible over the years. She hasn't ever been in arrears with rent and has been privately renting for some 7 years now. She'll no doubt get excellent LL references.

She does seems to have an excellent credit rating and has recently been approved for various financial products so I wonder also if she could possibly even have a CCJ? She may well have to disclose bank statements and no doubt the DCA will be discoverable as it's a monthly DD. Perhaps great attention wouldn't be paid to this.

Is honesty the best policy or is there no real need to disclose any of the above?

It depends on how detailed the check is and how diligent the agent is.

Normally I'd suggest honesty, but those things would stop me letting go a prospective tenant. They're exactly the things that the checks are for.

One problem is a mistake and they happen, two looks like a pattern of behaviour. Sorry.

There is no perfect answer. I have had people declare things, and my response has been "Thanks for the honesty, but why should I take a risk with you ? "  Sorry,but she does sound like a potential liability in more ways than one. Good luck!