Landlords beware fraudulent tenants

Liverpool firm Bluerow Lettings is warning that landlords should beware of fraudulent tenants.

A number of insurance firms and lettings agents have reported a rise in the number of cases involving property owners being hit by fraudulent tenants.

tenant verification

Helen Griffin-Booth, managing director of Bluerow Lettings said: “There have been a number of landlords that have reported tenants giving false information to hinder background checks and essentially moving from property to property without paying rent. Once they are in the property they are then difficult to evict.”

According to Helen it is becoming an increasing problem and landlords need to ensure they perform rigorous checks on any potential tenants before they move into the property.

She said: “My advice to any landlord is to use an expert referencing service or a lettings agent like ourselves who will carry out comprehensive checks on tenants. It’s a small investment which could pay serious dividends.

“We offer a full management letting service, but one of the most popular packages we offer is the service to find and vet tenants. Letting a property can be extremely profitable particularly in the current environment, with the demand for rental properties through the roof, but if you get a nightmare tenant it can be a huge headache. It’s worth paying the professionals to ensure this doesn’t happen.”

According to Helen any good lettings agent or referencing firm should obtain ID documents and proof of current residency at an early stage of the tenancy application. Credit checks should also be made and references gathered from the tenant’s employer and previous landlord.
Landlords should also ensure they or the lettings agent make regular checks, to protect against subletting.

Helen said: “Subletting is another issue which crops up a lot with stories of the vetted tenants never even moving in but subletting the property for profit to other tenants.”

According to Helen no amount of checks can make up for experience. She said: “Using an experienced lettings firm, with staff who have training and experience of finding the right tenant is one of your best bets, to ensure your property let goes without a hitch.”

Source : clickliverpool