what do letting agents look for in a credit check?

[binkhus]

hi im going to look at a property on wed in blackpool through a letting agent , iv always rented through private landlords so never had one of these checks done. i looked at my credit recond on experian and it looks ok to me . it says four accounts and no defaults but does show up a credit card i had a few years ago that i never paid back. no default though just shows the ballance not changing.

will this mean i will get turned down? i have some good refs and can show i have never missed a rent payment on this property but im a bit worried.

[binkhus]

we both passed !!!! so just waiting for references to come back now.

[Maursh]

Usually when you make an offer via an estate agency, you pay a holding deposit of some kind. Two weeks rent or the like which then has the property removed from the market while all these checks are being run. If you back out of the deal then the landlord keeps the deposit but otherwise this is offset against the bond and first months rent.

 

My question is, does anyone know if you fail credit or reference checks whether you can claim this holding deposit back? Or more generally, under what circumstances can you reclaim the holding deposit? For instance if there was a clause on the AST which neither party could agree on, would you be entitled to it back then or not?

 

Any info on this would be appreciated

[need advice]

My residential property is managed (poorly) by a letting agent in England and I now live in Australia.

The agent was supposed to complete an initial inventory list and inspection, followed by inspections every three months. Three months after my tenant moved in, I contacted the agent for the reports and they failed to write back to me for another two months, ignoring my requests for any report, but asking me how I would like to pay for a broken window!

I queried the agent about a missing rent payment for February and they advised me that my tenant had been in and paid her rent for February, in March, however they never deposited the rent into my account. Now the agent says they cannot find a record of the rent being paid and have been harassing the tenant to pay (again), and the tenant is now not wanting to renew the lease and is a further two months in arrears.The agents have done one inspection of which they sent me details in May and now claim that they have done a second inspection, although have not sent me any details. The tenant has been in my property for 11 months.

I wrote to the ombudsman, but it appears although the main letting agency business is registered with them, the branch at fault, is not a member. The agent has agreed to reimburse me a portion of their management fee, but my mortgage payments and I, have suffered a great deal more loss than this. I have kept all records of correspondence, including the letting agent admitting most of their faults. I am now at the end of my tether and trying to find a good solicitor who will take my case on a no win no fee basis. Can anyone please help?

[Zamzara]

My question is, does anyone know if you fail credit or reference checks whether you can claim this holding deposit back? Or more generally, under what circumstances can you reclaim the holding deposit? For instance if there was a clause on the AST which neither party could agree on, would you be entitled to it back then or not?

 

It varies between agents, and some will try to keep any cash at any opportunity. The OFT regards the practice you describe as unfair, but it's like the wild west sometimes.