A website claims to provide financial reports on prospective tenants quickly. By Adam Tinworth
As the economy slackens, landlords will have to scrutinise their prospective tenants’ credentials even more closely than they already do. And tenantverifier.com sets out to help them do it.
The site, launched by research and business information firm Experian, aims to provide a financial report on prospective tenants within 48 hours.
The site allows checking of both companies and individuals, making it applicable to both the commercial and residential sectors.
“It is evident from our research that bad tenants are becoming a growing problem,” says Bruno Rost from Experian.
The system speeds up the pre-screening process by conducting address verification, credit checks and obtaining relevant references automatically.
Users should be able to enter details of the tenant and receive initial a financial report instantly. They can then track the status of their enquiries on the website.
To help launch the service, Experian conducted a survey of 200 letting agents. Some real horror stories emerged. One tenant established two “massage parlours” in a property, whose doors were open for business 24 hours a day. One catering company rented an upmarket property and proceeded to wreck it, causing £10,000 of damage.
The analysis also showed that companies that did not conduct pre-letting checks suffered more than four times the amount of defaulting tenants than those who did. Also, the total cost of the default was usually higher.
The price of tenantverifier starts at £9.50 per report in the residential market, and provides a previous landlord’s reference and an employer’s reference. Company reports start at £22 per report.