Can letting agents charge for credit checks?
As linked above, each of these credit agencies offers tenant verification services that include credit checks. You can order the reports online and receive them immediately. Your landlord or landlord should not force you to pay a fee for a credit check. If that’s the case, you can report them to trading standards.
Rental application fees can raise many questions for landlords and tenants alike. Landlords know how important it is to charge these fees, but they may be confused about what limits they need to meet. Potential tenants, on the other hand, may not understand what the fees are or what they are used for. Background checks are not free to process, and this is why landlords usually choose to charge a rent application fee or let the potential tenant pay directly for their background check.
Agents who resisted the move can only blame themselves after some raised the charges to ridiculous levels, activists say. Apart from that, landlords or property management companies should never charge exorbitantly high application fees. The government is taking action against rental agents — and starting Saturday, they will no longer be able to charge you for references, credit checks, and guarantors. Your landlord or broker may charge you a fee if they agree to terminate your tenancy early or leave without notice.
A change may include changing the names in a contract if a roommate moves out and the other tenants find someone else to move in, or asking to keep a pet, or applying for permission to sublet or run a business from the property. You can also ask for a “character reference” — a letter from an employer or someone who knows you well to show that you’re reliable. Get the name and contact details of your landlord or landlord before you give them your documents. You do this to verify that you have the right to live and rent in the UK — this is known as a “rent law check.
The ban applies to insured short tenants, student rentals and tenants who live with a private landlord. It’s less common for private landlords to run credit checks because they can take longer to rent out a property. The landlord should contact the landlord checking service, who will let them know if you have the “right to rent” and provide you with the right documents. If you rent through a rental agent, do so before you give them money. If you fail a credit check, you may not get your money back.
If you don’t have documents because you’re waiting for an immigration decision from the Department of Home Affairs, ask the landlord to request a check from the Home Office for tenancy law.
