Landlord references- advice needed

[jimmyk83]

Hi.

 

So me and two friends have been living as joint tenants for 2 years, and now we are looking to move out and find a new place. We submitted tenant reference forms a couple of weeks ago. The credit and employment checks came back fine, but apparently our landlord gave us a bad reference.

 

The homelet forms came back to the estate agent saying we dont pay the rent on time, the house is not well maintained, and he wouldnt recommend us as tenants.

 

Now the rent has always been paid. We moved in on the 2nd of the month, and for the first year we paid on the 2nd without fail. At the beginning of the second year, one of my housemates (the one who actually transfers the money to the landlords account) changed jobs. He phoned the landlord and asked if he could move the payment date to the 8th as it would be more convenient. The landlord agreed to this, and we have kept up payments on the 8th as agreed. Now the references have come back as saying we are late with the rent. I phoned the landlord to discuss this (he has always been amicable with us), and he said he would phone homelet and explain that the payments had been satisfactory. I dont believe he would lie about this.

 

As for the upkeep of the house and garden, it is sometimes messy. However, should we really be declined tenancy for this? He has not ever complained that the house is messy, and we will of course clean the property before we leave. In terms of damage, I can think of only two things which are broken, a curtain rail, and 2 knobs on the oven. We intend to get these fixed before leaving, but even if we dont, surely this is what a deposit is for? I would add that the house was hardly in prime condition when we moved in. Frankly the place is a bit of a dump. The kitchen was dirty when we moved in, there are lots of holes in the floorboards, the washing machine smells like sewage when you use it, the doors dont shut properly. I could go on. It seems pretty cheeky to say that the house is poorly maintained by us when he has clearly put no effort into maintaining it in the past.

 

In addition we have gone a sum total of around 2 months (in 2 years) without heating, and some without hot water. On each occasion it has broken we have gone longer than i deem acceptable before having it fixed. We have never complained about any of this. The irony is that the only one of the three references that we were sure would be fine was the landlord. We always paid the rent on time, we got on with him well, and we only ever contacted him when the heating broke down.

 

Basically im looking for any advice. Who makes the final decision? Homelet, estate agents or landlord/lady? If we dont get this place, presumably well struggle to get another place, and then we'll be without any accommodation. I just feel really cheated. I dont think weve done anything wrong, and the guy has basically screwed us out of renting anywhere again for at least three years.

 

Help me please!

 

PS. Sorry for the essay

[mariner51]

The homelet forms came back to the estate agent saying we dont pay the rent on time, the house is not well maintained, and he wouldnt recommend us as tenants.

 

He phoned the landlord and asked if he could move the payment date to the 8th as it would be more convenient.

As for the upkeep of the house and garden, it is sometimes messy

 

So the LL ref was generally accurate. Rent not paid 'on time' (2nd) for last year and property/garden generally untidy when inspected.

Future LLs expect a predictable income stream to pay their committments and expect Ts to take care of their valuable asset (property)

Ref may have been harsh but it should be truthful. There are ways to write a 'glowing' but damning ref.

Future LL/LA will decide what weight to give ref. If you provide rent statement showing rent was paid each month and explain LL accepted change to 8th in final year and your credit and other checks are acceptable, there should not be a problem for most LLs. What does set alarm bells ringing is if last LL writes back and declines to provide a ref. IMO

[jimmyk83]

Thanks for replying.

Actually he never once inspected the property. The only times he visited were when the boiler broke, so we didnt see him, or hear from him at all during the summer, but he would sometimes be round several times in a week during the winter. Whenever we knew he was coming we tidied up, but admittedly the garden was always in a state. I have no problem with him saying that on the reference form. What I do have a problem with is the rent thing. As far as i'm concerned, if it was agreed between both parties that the new rent date would be the 8th, and we always paid on or by the 8th for the second year, then we have never been late with the rent. Either he hasnt properly explained the situation or homelet are extremely harsh with what they view as 'late' payment. Basically i'm just annoyed at the current LL for giving us a bad reference as he never complained about anything we did, was always friendly with us, and even told my housemate, when we told him we were moving out, good luck to us and that he would give us a good reference!

 

Anyway the LA came back to us today and said the landlady would agree to let us move in if we provide a guarantor and pay an extra months rent (£1250) up front. Seems a bit much, but i dont think we can push our luck by trying to negotiate. Its a lot of money but i think we'll be able to pull it together. Its just a relief to have somewhere, even if its going to make things tough financially.

[mariner51]

You could advise new LA that you are willing to provide a property-owning G in full-time employment and 1 month rent as deposit, but 2 month deposit will stretch the finances. It should not be nec if G passes the credit checks which you may have to pay.