It is not uncommon to hear news about tenants who refuse to pay their rent and even going so far as causing damage to their landlord's property. This is why screening prospective tenants through tenant referencing is especially important. This process works to protect the landlord from individuals who may not be suitable tenants or those that have a long history of unscrupulous behavior. In renting, a landlord essentially entrusts his property ? his investment ? to another unknown person so it pays to at least have an idea of the type of character to whom the keys to his property are temporarily handed over.
The process
In tenant referencing, the letting agent or the landlord himself will request for a tenant's references and verify his credibility through this information. The letting agent or an outsourced referencing agency may call the prospective tenant's employer or previous landlord to learn more about his character and whether or not he is suitable for the property.
A potential tenant will be asked to fill out a referencing form for this process. It is important for individuals to be honest in accomplishing this form as they are at risk of losing their holding deposit in case they fail to disclose something that is vital to the process.
A character exam
In some ways, tenant referencing is much like a character exam that landlord's require their prospective tenants to take. And just like in any type of exam, individuals can either fail or pass this test based on a number of reasons. For instance, most referencing agencies require an income to rent ratio of 2.5 ? that is, the tenant's income should be at least 2.5 times the amount of his rent. For households where there are two or more people working, their combined income will be taken into consideration. Tenants who fail this criteria are not eligible for the rental property as well.
There are several other criteria used in tenant referencing but what is more important is the agency or firm that handles this process. To ensure that they are getting accurate information on their prospective tenants, rental property owners are advised to contract with an agency or a company that will efficiently protect their interests.
Here at LetSafe, we are committed to providing efficient services to ensure the peace of mind of our client landlords. We offer state of the art tenant referencing services through our centre based in Milton Keynes. Our qualified personnel will confirm the accuracy of the data that your prospective tenants furnish you. We will complete your references in the soonest possible time so that you can get hold of an in-depth and easy-to-understand report as soon as you need it.
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