Avoiding bad Tenants
This is one of the biggest landlord fears. By using our Tenant Find Service, you will get your let off to a great start with a fully referenced tenant. By using our Fully Managed Service, you allow us to continue to help you run your rental property successfully, keeping your tenant safe, keeping you on the right side of the letting laws and protecting your investment.
Whether you manage your property yourself, or let us look after it for you, there are some steps you can take to avoid bad tenants:
Act quickly
Learn to recognise the signs that things are going wrong – these include late rent and lack of contact – and act upon them straight away. Delays usually result in increased costs, so try to nip any problems in the bud.
Tenant checks
Carry out thorough referencing – or employ a qualified agent such as Hunters to do this for you. If you prefer to do this yourself, note that by law you should carry out Right to Rent checks on all tenants, and do ensure you are obtaining the correct copies of official identification, such as passport, driving licence and utility bills (not mobile phone bills), to help you avoid identity fraud. You should also verify the documents’ authenticity and take copies for your records. Failure to comply with the Right to Rent legislation is very serious and can lead to a custodial sentence if not complied with.
Guarantor checks
If your tenant needs a guarantor, you should check them as thoroughly as you check the tenant.
Credit control
Always check your bank account on the day the rent is due and keep detailed records. You can read more about this in our record keepingsection.
Good communication
By communicating with your tenant, you can keep up-to-date with their situation and identify potential problems. Keep records of all communication, as this may be useful in the event of a problem.
Be knowledgeable
Make sure you stay up to date with lettings rules and regulations, so that you know your rights and responsibilities as a landlord. The easiest way to do this is to have the property managed by a professionally qualified letting agent who is a member of NALS or ARLA orRICs.
If you are managing your property yourself, you can get the correct advice by joining a landlord scheme such as Residential Landlords Association (RLA) or National Landlords Association (NLA), but you have to know the questions you need to ask to let a property safely and legally.
“With our Tenant Find Service, we do all the hard work of finding good people to rent from you and checking their suitability. And while we take care of all the paperwork, you are free to spend time on your new property and preparing it for its first tenants.”
