In The Press

When a tenant failed to pay any rent after the first month his tenancy last year, the landlord did not expect this to lead to lengthy court proceedings to obtain possession of the property and a judgment for £20,972 inclusive of costs against the tenant.

When it materialised that the letting agent had told the landlord that the tenant’s ID had been checked prior to the tenancy starting, when actually the tenant’s previous landlord had only provided a copy of the tenant’s passport to the letting agent five days after the tenancy had commenced, revealing that the tenant’s real name and date of birth was different to that given by the tenant on his application, it was clear that the agent had not followed basic and fundamental referencing requirement.

Had the agent told the landlord that the ID had not been checked, it is highly likely that the landlord would not have let the property to this tenant, especially as it transpired that the previous landlord had also obtained a court judgment against the tenant for £12,500 for unpaid rent, and that this had yet to be paid.

Read the full article on the Estate Agent Today website.