I did post this on my old 'washing machine' thread but perhaps it needs a new thread.
We live in a rental property, now in a position to move and thought we had found a new property. We had agreed to pay the whole year's rent in advance, so finance isn't an issue, but we've heard today that we have failed the referencing and cannot rent the property.
I was told in an email just as the letting agent closed, so cannot find out why until the morning. Does anyone know whether you have the right to find out what has been said in a reference?
Our relationship with our current landlord has broken down completely and she initially refused to give a reference until we gave her written notice. We gave her the notice in writing and she did send a reference. I don't know if it was because of her reference.
We rent the bungalow at the bottom of our current landlord's garden and have to walk up a gravel path though their garden to access it. Their dog messes on the path and they often leave it so we have to clear it up. They have not carried out repairs when needed and the bathroom suffers badly from damp.
They also have no planning permission for the bungalow so it wasn't registered for Council Tax. Our tenancy agreement states that the landlord pays the Council Tax, which they obviously can't do and I'm sure they don't declare the income for tax purposes. It would seem strange therefor for them to give a bad reference if that was the reason the referencing failed.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Have you had any ccj,s against you no matter how trivial.
I have a clear conscience with regard to this. They treat us just like the dog's mess they leave on the path to our property and which we have to remove if we don't want to tread in it.
Good. I have no qualms, at all, about you 'grassing' on them. I would also have done what Golfie says with their dog mess - except I might have passed on the bag.
I was just making the point, and maybe I'm wrong, that if you (or more specifically tenants on general) are going to do something, mean, based on a reference there is a justification in keeping them private/confidential.
I hope you haven't taken my comments as an insult, as they aren't, but human nature suggests that if private and confidential comments are going to be made public there can be consequences.
TBH I think I would have taken your comments as a bit of an insult.
I have a clear conscience with regard to this. They treat us just like the dog's mess they leave on the path to our property and which we have to remove if we don't want to tread in it.
Good. I have no qualms, at all, about you 'grassing' on them. I would also have done what Golfie says with their dog mess - except I might have passed on the bag.
I was just making the point, and maybe I'm wrong, that if you (or more specifically tenants on general) are going to do something, mean, based on a reference there is a justification in keeping them private/confidential.
I hope you haven't taken my comments as an insult, as they aren't, but human nature suggests that if private and confidential comments are going to be made public there can be consequences.
TBH I think I would have taken your comments as a bit of an insult.
Something I'd been pondering about posting , but you took the bull by the proverbials, A.
It didn't @LenGlover because although the letting agent submitted the revised reference and our side of the story, the landlady decided that she doesn't want to let the property after all and has taken it off the market.
The letting agent paid back the holding deposit but we lost the referencing fee of £240. They did however say that they would recommend us to any future prospective landlord, so I'm sure our side of the story was believed over that of our current landlord.
We are therefore back to square one and looking for another property and hope that our current landlord doesn't scupper our chances of obtaining another property.
It didn't @LenGlover because although the letting agent submitted the revised reference and our side of the story, the landlady decided that she doesn't want to let the property after all and has taken it off the market.
The letting agent paid back the holding deposit but we lost the referencing fee of £240. They did however say that they would recommend us to any future prospective landlord, so I'm sure our side of the story was believed over that of our current landlord.
We are therefore back to square one and looking for another property and hope that our current landlord doesn't scupper our chances of obtaining another property.
It would be worth finding out who the referencing company was as they might do references for several different agents. If you find a property through an agent that uses the same firm you should be able to save paying the £240 again.
It didn't @LenGlover because although the letting agent submitted the revised reference and our side of the story, the landlady decided that she doesn't want to let the property after all and has taken it off the market.
The letting agent paid back the holding deposit but we lost the referencing fee of £240. They did however say that they would recommend us to any future prospective landlord, so I'm sure our side of the story was believed over that of our current landlord.
We are therefore back to square one and looking for another property and hope that our current landlord doesn't scupper our chances of obtaining another property.
Next time you require a reference from your landlords I would suggest timely reminder as to their legal responsibilities with regard to the reference.
Comments
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Knob.
The letting agent paid back the holding deposit but we lost the referencing fee of £240. They did however say that they would recommend us to any future prospective landlord, so I'm sure our side of the story was believed over that of our current landlord.
We are therefore back to square one and looking for another property and hope that our current landlord doesn't scupper our chances of obtaining another property.