Landlords - Use letting agents, don't rely on listings websites

The following article was published by Letting Agent Today.  It is unusual for us to re-publish an article in this way, but this is an important topic given the cost pressures many landlords are feeling.  It will be tempting to look for ways to reduce operating costs and in so doing open themselves up to unforeseen risks.

With the forthcoming ban of letting agent fees to tenants, there will be further temptation to skip credit and employment reference checks on tenants, exposing landlords to unscrupulous tenants.

As reader know, as well as being author of this Blog, I am the owner of Martin & Co, Oxford, which is a letting agency.  So, of course I do have a vested interest in Oxford landlords continuing to use a letting agent (particularly my own!).  However, with so much government scrutiny on protecting tenants from unscrupulous landlords, it is important that landlords recognise the risks presented to them from unscrupulous tenants.

In recognition of the risk to landlords of letting their property to rogue tenants we offer our clients access to a comprehensive protection policy that provides financial protection in the event that a tenant risk like this materialises, despite the credit and employment reference checks conducted by us having been passed prior to the tenancy commencing.

The article read as follows:

The founder of eviction specialist Landlord Action is advising landlords to use accredited letting agents and not try to take the cheap option of advertising for tenants on websites. 

Shamplina is a host of Channel 5’s TV show Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords, and on last evening’s episode he discovered what happened when one landlord decided to let her property through a listings website. 

Initially she was delighted when a young professional moved into her flat promising to look after the place. He boasted of a private education and his references showed a successful career in the City - but it didn’t take long before he stopped paying the rent. 

"We've learnt that bad tenants are more likely to target [websites] because they hope they will be subjected to fewer checks. In the future, we'd always go through an agent - although even this has no guarantee. It's the law that needs to change to make landlords less vulnerable to unscrupulous tenants” McNaught told the programme.

Shamplina says this situation is not uncommon. 

“This guy is a serial bad tenant. He has been evicted previously after running up costs of £30,000 in unpaid rent and stolen furniture from an overseas landlord. In Vicky’s case, he used false references to secure the property.” 

Shamplina says this should serve as a serious warning to landlords about using free classified websites to advertise their property to rent. 

“We’ve come across many similar cases in the past where we see serial bad tenants prey on less experienced landlords who let their properties on consumer websites. Unfortunately, the majority of these landlords are deceived by well educated con artists. With absolutely nothing in place to safeguard landlords, they find themselves in all sorts of trouble” he says.