Professionals Rely on Tenant Verify
TenantVERIFY® was the first and is still arguably the best online tenant checking and referencing service for landlords and agents.
Using advanced technology and our multiple sources of up-to-date information we aim to give a fast reliable online service which is easy to use.
Our long experience and knowledge of the industry means that our credit checking and referencing service is second to none, providing you with all the information you need to make an informed decision on your prospective tenant’s suitability.
Why Credit Check & Reference Tenants?
As a landlord or agent, selecting the right tenant is perhaps the most important part of the whole letting process because taking on a bad tenant can have disastrous consequences.
A bad tenant can cost thousands of pounds in lost rental income, plus damage done inside the property and the legal fees for evictions. It can take months to evict a bad non-paying tenant through the legal process, then very often there’s damage inside the property to be put right before re-letting, creating long void periods as well. Human nature being as it is, there’s never an absolute guarantee however many checks you carry out, but if you combine the thoroughness of our checks with our additional recommended checks – your own systematic tenant screening process – you will reduce the risk of taking on a bad tenant to an absolute minimum.
What Information do we rely on for our Checks?
We use as necessary one or all of the main credit reference agencies including Experian, Equifax and Call Credit, plus as required several specialist agencies and sources as listed below. For our International Checks we have built our own world-wide network of reliable reference agencies.
We check, depending on the circumstances:
- The Electoral Roll
- Date of Birth confirmation
- ID verification of information provided – landlords and agents must check original documents
- Linked addresses and alias name checks
- Disclosed and Undisclosed addresses
- Financial and Credit Information shared between the major financial institutions and retailers
- Debt Records and County Court Judgements (CCJs) (England and Wales), Bankruptcy and IVA Checks
- Scottish Decrees (Scotland)
- The Council of Mortgage Lenders records for repossessions
- The UK’s leading Fraud Prevention Service (CIFAS) which provides information about applications for credit suspected to be fraudulent
- The Gone Away Information Network (GAIN) which shares information on customers with outstanding debts who may have moved home without providing a forwarding address.
- Delinquent tenants databases
- Bank Account Verification as necessary
- Employment status and income verification to establish long-term affordability and stability (Comprehensive Checks)
- Previous landlord or agent reference – rent paid and on time, no damage, would landlord recommend or rent to tenant again?
Using a Guarantor
You may like the extra security of a guarantor anyway, but if the results of our checks are on the border line of acceptability, for example, a marginal credit score, we will sometimes recommend accepting the tenant applicant with a guarantor in place.
Guarantors are also recommended where the tenants are starting a new job or self-employment, or are young, particularly students.
Guarantors should ideally be home owners with sufficient income to cover the rent and other tenancy agreement liabilities should the tenant default. Guarantors should be credit checked and referenced in a similar way to tenants using a Comprehensive Check.
Our Report Recommendations
Our Credit Check and Referencing reports provide you with all the information you need to know about the outcome of the checks and the action you should take. You will receive a credit score and our recommendation:
- Accept the tenant applicant
- Accept with caution, using added security – usually this means with a guarantor
- Reject the tenant applicant
See a copy of our TenantVERIFY® advice on Tenant Screening, a Checklist
