Lettings: References and Verification l The Property Fox

The lettings process is a lot of work.  

As well as making sure the right tenant for your property, it's important to make sure they are reliable and trustworthy.  

 

This is where references come in! We can receive references from previous landlords, employers, friends, or family members who know the tenant well.  

These references provide valuable information on what kind of person they are; whether they pay their bills on time, how long ago their last tenancy was etc.  

 

There are different ways that we can verify these references before accepting them though - this blog will go into detail about what each verification method entails and why you should use one over another. 

 

One way to verify a reference is by contacting the referee directly.  

This can be done over the phone or even via email, and usually takes just a few minutes. We will ask them some simple questions about the tenant, such as how long they have known them and whether they would recommend them.  

 

This verification method is great for getting first-hand information and the chance to ask any questions you may have.  

This method is usually best for situations where we are not familiar with the person giving us a reference, such as if it's their first time letting through us, or they are new in our area. 

 

Another way to verify a reference is by using the Landlord Reference Checker (LRC).  

This is an online tool that allows us to compare the information given on the reference against public records. We can use this tool to check for things like bankruptcy, County Court Judgements, and fraud. It's also great for checking whether the referee exists, as many people will give us fake figures to avoid having their details passed on.  

 

This method is good for making sure the referees in question are real, but it can be a lot of work if they have given you lots of references! It may also not provide any additional information about your tenant that we didn't already know from speaking directly to them. 

 

This last method is a report from a credit reference agency. These agencies collect information about people and use it to assess their creditworthiness, meaning whether they can be trusted enough for things like loans or mortgages.  

 

We request these reports to find out if any of the tenants have had financial problems in the past, such as bankruptcy or County Court Judgements. They are a great way to make sure your tenant is reliable, as financial troubles can be a sign of someone who has trouble paying their bills.  

These reports usually don't cost much and we request them from all our tenants anyway so it's not an additional step for us! 

 

This blog post will hopefully give you some information about what references are, who they come from and how we can verify them before accepting them.  

This will help you keep your tenants happy while giving you the information needed to be a good landlord! 

 

0116 340 9989 

lettings@thepropertyfox.co.uk