Can letting agents force joint tenancy?

[lucyec]

Could anyone help please, I'm not quite sure where we stand on this....

My partner and I have been renting through an agency since April and have decided to move. The new property is still with the same agency.

Our tenancy agreement has always been soley in my partners name and my name is not on the agreement. This is because I have a horrendous credit history and was pretty certain I would fail the initial credit check and we wouldn't be allowed to rent with them.

Now we are moving they want me to go on the agreement as they say that everyone who lives in the property has to be on it. (So by rights does this include my 4 year old daughter as well? )

We had a bit of a fight on our hands when we requested this the first time round. It would mean a credit check on me (which will come back unfavourably to say the least), which means nearly doubling the admin fee.

Is there any actual law that says I absolutely have to have my name on the agreement? Furthermore, if I agree to this then have the credit check and it comes back bad (which I know it will), is this going to prevent us from being allowed the house? Are they just trying to make more money out of us?!!

Hope someone can help please, they are holding the house for us 'til tomorrow.

[callumsgran]

Not sure on the legality of this but i dont think they can force you to be a joint tenant, if your partner earns enough to pay all the rent then i can see no problem, by the way my hubby has really bad credit rating and he passed the checks ok.
As long as you are up to date with your existing rent you should be fine.
We've just moved and my 20 yr old and 23yr old moved in with us and they werent credit checked to my knowledge, and they certainly arent on the tenancy.
Your daughter wouldnt be eligible as she has to be 18 i believe
Your best bet is to pm MrShed or Nightmare4banks as they are the resident experts

[lucyec]

Thanks for the swift reply CB,

Yes we are up to date with rent, and have never had any problems money wise. We have been model tenants

Your daughter wouldnt be eligible as she has to be 18 i believe

Hehe, I was only kidding about that, I didn't really think they'd put a 4 yo on the agreement

by the way my hubby has really bad credit rating and he passed the checks ok.

That certainly gives me hope. I begrudge paying for it as I know exactly what it says - maybe I could give them my copy of my credit file!!

Your best bet is to pm MrShed or Nightmare4banks as they are the resident experts

Right, they will be my first port of call.

[MrShed]

They can refuse to let you the property if you refuse to be put on the agreement. Other than that, there is no legal reason why you would have to be on the tenancy. Although, it is probably in your interests to be on it rather than not. As CB says, feel free to PM me, or reply here, and I shall help as much as poss.

[lucyec]

Hi MrShed, thanks for replying.

Its not that I'm refusing to be put on the agreement, its more that I'm afraid if they do a credit check and I fail it they won't let us have the house. Also, as they let our present house soley in my partner's name I don't see why they want to change it now. As I say, our rent has always been on time and we're keeping the house in top condition as our inspections by them always prove.

I know that by not having my name on the agreement it means I waive any rights I may have as a tenant, but on the flip side of that it means that my partner is soley responsible for all rent/bills etc.

Also, I don't want my partner to have any financial connection with me. We've kept things seperate so that my poor credit history has no link to his good history - I don't want to spoil things for him.

If we stand our ground, can they simply refuse to let us have the house? Would this also put our current home in jeopardy? We're not trying to be awkward with them, just trying to keep things simple and my partner's clear credit record clear!

[MrShed]

They can refuse to let you have the house for any reason. With regards your current property, it does not, in theory, risk your current tenancy. In practice, if the fixed term has expired, they can evict for no reason, which they may do. Rather than have it dragged out etc, I would simply say to them that you are not willing to take the property on the basis of you both being checked and on the agreement, and if they insist on this then you are sorry but you must pull out. Be honest - state that your credit history is poor, and that is why, as well as the duplicated credit check cost. If you can get assurances from them that your credit history will not affect the application, then go ahead with it. This approach makes it as painless as possible from both sides, and minimises the risk of "annoying" them, and getting them to evict you from your current property.

[lucyec]

Many thanks for your help MrShed. My partner has just come back from the agent having put to them the points as you outlined. And honesty prevails - hurrah!! They've agreed to the contract in his name only

Thank you very much - I would be lost without the help of this site and the people on it!!

We now look forward to an extremely hectic Christmas, hehe.

xxx

[lucyec]

Oh dear, seems like I spoke too soon. Having been told everything was ok, we went ahead and handed in notice, arranged a new school for my daughter, gave notice to the current school, booked a removal van etc etc. It now turns out that the landlord does want me to be on the tenancy agreement after all. So I said they were quite welcome to put my name on the agreement providing there was no credit check. The letting agency agreed to this, and again we thought everything is going ahead. However, once again the landlord is not happy with this and was taking advice from a solicitor. He now wants my partner to sign a separate contract stating that he is soley liable for all bills. I just think that if the tenancy agreement was soley in my partners name he would have been soley liable for the bills anyway wouldn't he? Also, there is no doubt about my partner's ability to pay the rent or bills - he has been credit checked plus the fact he's been paying everything for nearly a year with our current agents. And before that for 5 years with another agent.

Its all turning out to be more trouble than its worth I think. Although, we are bound to have the same problems with other agents/landlords as well. My partner and I are afraid that come christmas we will be homeless. And its all because of my poor credit history. All we wanted was to make it easier for everyone concerned and keep me out of everything more or less. I don't know what we should do . I don't blame the landlord for being cautious, he doesn't know us from Adam and however much we may protest that we are good honest people I suppose it all boils down to money past, present and future.

[demon_x_slash]

The landlord is being cautious - maybe a bit overcautious, but reading the L&T forum, maybe not - however, the landlord would not be liable for any utility bills should you up and leave in the night anyway, they would all be in your partner's name to begin with.

What is your landlord actually afraid of? Your partner will be the one paying the rent. He has a faultless credit history - there should be no problem with leaving you off the agreement. From the commencement of the tenancy to the close, your partner will be liable for all utilities at that address; the utility companies are not allowed to 'chase' a landlord for an unpaid tenant's bill, they have to chase the tenant.

Very cautious guy. If you're still dealing with him and do take up the tenancy, I would get everything in writing in future, even if it's only him coming in to do a little repair job.

[lucyec]

Thanks Demon - my feelings exactly. They have more or less means tested my partners' ability to pay rent and bills and they know for a fact he is capable of it.

Like you say, if he's this cautious and picky about things now I dread to think what he'd be like in the future. I have a feeling this is the first house he's rented out!

We still haven't heard anything back, so don't know if we're successful or not.

[demon_x_slash]

Ah, well, got my fingers crossed for you

[Jhawc24]

My daughter has a terrible credit history, but she's managed to rent a property recently. I stood as guarantor for her, they did charge more in admin costs though. They may request a guarantor, but hopefully your partner is more than enough security.

Sounds like they are just trying to make more money out of you, insisting you are on the agreement. If your partner was soley the tenant then he has the right to control who enters the property, and is entitled to have whoever to stay there (such as yourself). This should cause no financial loss to your landlord.

Regards, Joan

[lucyec]

Latest developments.... last week they told us it was all fine, the tenancy would go through with my name on it but without doing a credit check. So we carried on confirming schools, arranging vans, packing etc etc. Today, the landlord has changed his mind again and wants me to have a credit check. Now as far as we were concerned we would be moving house on the 27th of December, we've packed up most of the house, changed our phone line, redirected mail and everything. So to tell us that 13 days before we're due to move is a huge blow to say the least. We would really like to tell them to stuff it, but we've gone too far down the line to go back now. So I've filled in forms for a check and all we can do now is wait

[GHM]

As a landlord and a tenant at the same time any landlord who does not require all parties to be party to the lease is a lunatic!

He has no protection and if he has a mortgage on the property could possibly be in breach of his conditions.

Imagine the scenario:

Boy is on lease.
Boy meets girl.
Landlord does not know about girl
Girl never joine lease
Boy and girl have blazing row and boy leaves flat for his mother's.
Girl is still in flat but has no obligation to pay rent.
Landlord then has no right to his rent and has to undergo proceedings through the court if girl plays hard ball.

It's not really being cautious, it's fundamental to the contract.

Sorry. As a landlord, I let quite happily to a couple, one was a bankrupt, the other a well paid hairdresser. I didn't credit check the chap!! They both went on the lease as they are jointly and severally responsible.

Oh, yes, that's the other thing - what if girl then trashes the flat - who pays when she shouldn't even be there!!

Good luck with your credit history and remember that being on the lease and electoral roll is the best thing for your credit worthiness.

GHM

PS If you fail the check appeal to his better nature or try to offer a guarantor for the rent. As you're paying a bond (presumably) he's already mitigating his risk. He's not really being awkward, he just sounds like a part-time landlord who doesn't know the rules of the game and is now being advised by the agent/advisor to do things properly. He might be a good guy. Some landlords are you know - especially if you pay the rent, report any problems and leave the place tidy when it's time to go!

[lucyec]

Thanks GHM. Thing is, if the above happened as you mention I would have thought that the landlord would still be able to persue the boy for the rent as it would be his name on the contract and he would be liable for the rent or any damages whether he was living there or not. (Plus if I were the boy, I'd be kicking the girl out as it's my house!! )

I had and have no objections to my name being on the lease, I just didn't want the credit check. As it is, I've done it now and miraculously its come back ok. So as far as we know everything is going ahead. I won't be celebrating until we actually get the keys though!