The Property Ombudsman has reported a surge of complaints relating to tenant references thus indicating that some Letting Agents are failing to meet their obligations under the Property Ombudsman's code of Practice.
Christopher Hamer was recently quoted for an Article in The Negotiator magazine, in which is stated " I am dealing with a significant number of cases bought by landlords who are concerned about the reference details provided to them by Letting Agents. This reinforces the importance for any letting agent to firmly understand what their obligations are under the Code of Practice and what they should see as best practice if they are not members"
Sally Asling, director of SurreyLets agrees that referencing is not always everything it should be in the industry when agents attempt to cut outsourcing costs and take referencing themselves.
"We live in a world now where financial information is all stored and credit history is ever important. Agents not doing credit referencing are missing a hugely important chunk of detail that is essential. In my opinion whist Christopher Hamer stated in his comments in Negotiator magazine that he believes a bank reference is necessary, I would disagree. Money in the bank can be here today and gone tomorrow. What landlords need to know is if the applicant is credit worthy, and for that it needs to be outsourced to a specialist referencing company."
"At SurreyLets we outsource our tenant referencing to Endsleigh who do a full comprehensive check on every tenant. This includes the following:
Affordability Check - Income validation score indicates the degree of confidence in the income stated by the applicant. Affordability of the rental share using the income validated by the income references
Authentication - Incorporates Voters Roll check and Experian's Authentication score
Adverse Data - Public information check for CCJ's, Bankruptcy and voluntary arrangements
Fraud Check - Score of Fraud Potential
Tenancy Score - The score indicates the likelihood of the applicant to default on their rental payments
Income reference - Where the applicant is employed, self employed or retired, income and employment
Landlord reference- Previous Landlord is contacted to establish if there was any payment issues or any dilapidation's were recorded
Decision - An automated decision using sophisticated scoring technology to increase decision speed
Sally Asling further adds "Once a tenant has been referenced and accepted by this procedure, Endsleigh are able to offer the Landlords a rental insurance for a year for under £100.00 (terms apply). I am confident that our references are thorough and that the Landlord is then able to make an informed decision "
Christopher Hamer was recently quoted for an Article in The Negotiator magazine, in which is stated " I am dealing with a significant number of cases bought by landlords who are concerned about the reference details provided to them by Letting Agents. This reinforces the importance for any letting agent to firmly understand what their obligations are under the Code of Practice and what they should see as best practice if they are not members"
Sally Asling, director of SurreyLets agrees that referencing is not always everything it should be in the industry when agents attempt to cut outsourcing costs and take referencing themselves.
"We live in a world now where financial information is all stored and credit history is ever important. Agents not doing credit referencing are missing a hugely important chunk of detail that is essential. In my opinion whist Christopher Hamer stated in his comments in Negotiator magazine that he believes a bank reference is necessary, I would disagree. Money in the bank can be here today and gone tomorrow. What landlords need to know is if the applicant is credit worthy, and for that it needs to be outsourced to a specialist referencing company."
"At SurreyLets we outsource our tenant referencing to Endsleigh who do a full comprehensive check on every tenant. This includes the following:
Affordability Check - Income validation score indicates the degree of confidence in the income stated by the applicant. Affordability of the rental share using the income validated by the income references
Authentication - Incorporates Voters Roll check and Experian's Authentication score
Adverse Data - Public information check for CCJ's, Bankruptcy and voluntary arrangements
Fraud Check - Score of Fraud Potential
Tenancy Score - The score indicates the likelihood of the applicant to default on their rental payments
Income reference - Where the applicant is employed, self employed or retired, income and employment
Landlord reference- Previous Landlord is contacted to establish if there was any payment issues or any dilapidation's were recorded
Decision - An automated decision using sophisticated scoring technology to increase decision speed
Sally Asling further adds "Once a tenant has been referenced and accepted by this procedure, Endsleigh are able to offer the Landlords a rental insurance for a year for under £100.00 (terms apply). I am confident that our references are thorough and that the Landlord is then able to make an informed decision "
No comments:
Post a Comment