FAQs

How does Lettingref work?

• How long does it take?

  Typically our checks come back within 30 seconds. In our own tests, it should take less than 10 minutes end to end to complete the full reference, if you begin with all the necessary data in front of you. This will get shorter as you store your property information within Lettingref and eliminate repetition.

• Am I tied in to any contracts by using your system?

  Absolutely not. We believe that by providing an excellent service at a competitive price our users will come back again and again. There are no recurring payments to set up or contracts to sign - You decide when and how much you pay.

• Why I should use your system?

  We believe that we have created the easiest way to reference tenants online. We also deliver the results within seconds straight to your screen, no more waiting for a fax to come through after several days. You can also store your property information within Lettingref, so saving on filling out the same forms over and over again with the same data when a new tenant moves in to a house you already manage.

• Why should I reference tenants?

  Properly referencing your tenants removes much of the risk that goes along with renting a property. It is important to ensure that your prospective tenant is of good character and is in a financial position to adhere to the terms of the lease. Referencing tenants is a great way to ensure that your property is not rented to potentially fraudulent or otherwise undesirable tenants.

• Does the credit check show up on the tenant's credit file?

  Performing a credit check on an individual will leave a 'soft' footprint on their credit files, meaning that the search record will be visible to the individual through their consumer credit report.

• Does the credit check affect the tenant's credit file related to future borrowing?

  Although performing a credit check on an individual will leave a 'soft' footprint on their credit files, meaning that the search record will be visible to the individual through their consumer credit report, this will NOT be visible to other lenders that may review their credit file. This means that the footprint should not affect any lender decisions. NB. The report will be recorded for 24 months in the file.
  
  

• What is the maximum file size per ID document?

  Please be advised that the max size is 200MB per file upload. There is no limit per total reference profile.

• How long does a CCJ or flag remain on an individual's file?

  A CCJ or any other flag will remain on a credit file for six years.

Tenant Referencing

• Should I enter a maiden name?

  When performing a credit search, the surname entered must be the most current i.e the surname that the individual uses at the time of the search.  The chances are all the data sources our system uses will have the most up to date surname for any individual, so this is what you should be using when performing a search.

  You may find however that if your tenant is recently married, and cannot be found in our system, that changing the surname to their maiden name will result in a match.

• How long is a credit check valid for?

  Lettingref uses Call Credit to produce all of the tenant credit checks completed on the system. As an accredited supplier, Call Credit cannot advise how often a credit check should be carried out on an individual due to the legalities.

  Call Credit have advised that when a credit check is completed the report that is produced is valid for that moment in time and should be used to make a judgment on whether the tenancy agreement should be offered or not, at that moment in time. The credit report produced by the system does not have a legal expiry date, as an individual's circumstances may change at any given time from that day hence.

  We would recommend that a new credit check is completed on each prospective tenant before the tenancy is offered on any property; as a prospective tenant's circumstances may have changed since the last credit check was completed.

• Can I use Lettingref to check someone who is self employed?

  Yes, you can. Credit checks completed using Lettingref rely on each individual being on the electoral role and having lived in the UK for 3 years irrespective of their employment status. In terms of our free referencing tools, if the individual is self employed, agents can still use the employer reference tool to request a reference from the individual's accountant or lawyer, a previous employer or any other contacts who they feel are appropriate to help them make an informed decision about the potential tenant.

• Is there an age limit on performing credit checks?

  There is no age limit on performing a credit check on the Lettingref system but those under the age of 18 will more than likely have what is called a 'thin file', which means that there may not be enough detail for a credit score to be given on the individual. In this case it is advised that the agent or landlord seek other references on the individual in the form of an employer and previous landlord reference plus conduct a full credit check on the individual's guarantor to make an informed decision.

   

• Can I credit-check companies?

  This is currently not a service we offer, but we are always open to suggestions and if other customers feel it is a valuable addition to the system we will certainly review this.

• How do I credit check a Guarantor?

  To check a Guarantor you must first create the reference by entering the details for the tenant along with the rental address of the property, as you would for a normal tenant reference.

  When you view your tenant reference you will see a link that says 'Add a Guarantor' (this appears just under the tenants address history). Clicking this will bring you to a screen where you can enter your guarantors details.

  The guarantor is always associated with a tenant so to access their details you should select the tenant they are acting as guarantor for, you will now see a 'Guarantor' tab in your tenant reference screen where you can view and edit details for the guarantor. Within this tab you will be able to perform a reference on the guarantor in exactly the same way you do for a tenant.

  

• Why do I need to enter an email address for my Tenant and/or Guarantor

  Data Protection
  

  When a credit check is performed we are required to inform the individual that a reference is taking place in order to comply with Data Protection.

  Although you may have done this verbally already with the tenant/guarantor it protects everyones position to remain compliant if we just email them a notification.

  We could write them a letter to this effect but this is costly and at Lettingref we are committed to keeping your costs down - hence email is the most economic way of sending these. Over 95% of the UK renting population has an email and if you come across one of the very few people who do not - they can set up a free email account very quickly with someone like Hotmail in less than 10 minutes.

  Less Administration for you
  

  Our system is designed to cut down the amount of administration you as landlord or agent have to do. A major advantage of collecting the Tenant/Guarantors email is that they can enter their details and address history themselves - saving you time entering their details.

  If you choose to have your tenant/guarantor complete their details themselves they will receive a personalised email from our system, just like the one below:

  

• How much information do I need to obtain from the tenant/guarantor to enable me to get a credit check report?

  It is really important that you obtain as much information as possible and that the information is accurate.

  To carry out a check and provide your report, the minimum information we need on your tenant/guarantor is:

  • Title
  • Forename
  • Surname
  • Email address
  • One contact phone number
  • Gender
  • Date of birth
  • Employment status
  • Annual income
  • Address history for the last 3 years

  For your report we will also require the rental property address, rental period and rent charged.

  PLEASE NOTE: We cannot provide references on tenants who have lived outside of the UK in the last 3 years

  The easiest way to gain this information is to add the tenants email address where you are prompted in the process and click on the link 'email tenant to complete their own details'.  The tenant then does all the form filling and then you just complete the credit check.

• How do the employer and previous landlord references work?

  We have provided a facility within our system that lets you carry out referencing really quickly through an email system. All you need to do is get the employer or landlord/agents email address and then click on the 'add employer' or 'add landlord' where you see the icons. The recipient will then get a professional email asking them a number of relevant questions. Once they have completed the details you can view the response by clicking 'view reply' under the employer or landlord icon. Clearly the time it takes to respond is out of our hands but we have found that as it is so easy for the employer or landlord they respond far more quickly than traditional letters etc.

• Can I reference a Tenant who has lived outside the UK?

  LettingRef are unable to provide credit references for individuals who have lived outside the UK in the last three years, as one of the main methods of tenant vetting relies on individuals being on the voters roll.

  For tenants in this circumstance, we would recommend the use of a UK-based guarantor. You can enter the guarantor's details on the tenant summary screen.

Emails from and to Lettingref

• I have not/my tenant has not received an email

  There are various reasons that you/or your tenant may have not received an email from Lettingref. Following the 3 steps below will ensure that you/your tenant receives email from our system:

  1. The first thing to do is check that the email address you have entered is correct with your tenant.
  2. If the email address is correct, check that the email is working and your/thier inbox is not full, otherwise the email will not be delivered
  3. Check that emails are not being automatically moved to a spam/junk folder. Adding our domain (lettingref.co.uk) to your/their 'Allowed' list will ensure that mail gets directly to them without ending up in a junk or spam folder.

  If your tenant was experiencing problems receiving emails from us, you will be able to resend the email by logging in to your account once you have carried out the steps above:

  1. Select the reference from your dashboard
  2. Click 'Edit' beside the Tenant Details
  3. Scroll to halfway and click the link' Email tenant to complete their own details' to generate another email to your tenant

• I have signed up but I have not received an activation email

  There are various reasons that you may have not received an activation email from our system. Following the 3 steps below will ensure that you receive email from our system in future:
  
  1. The first thing to do is check that the email address you have entered is correct
  2. If the email address is correct, check your email is working and your inbox is not full, otherwise the email will not be delivered
  3. You should check that emails are not being automatically moved to a spam/junk folder. Adding our domain (lettingref.co.uk) to your 'Allowed' list will ensure that mail gets directly to you without ending up in a junk or spam folder - you may need to ask your IT department to do this for you.
  
  Once you have carried out the steps above, please visit:
  https://www.lettingref.co.uk/activation/index.aspx where you can request that your activation email is resent.

Credit Check Results

• What does "accept with recommendations" mean?

  Accept with recommendation means that this candidate is suitable, however, other references should be sought for this candidate. For example an employer reference.

• What should I do if there is an issue with my tenant's credit rating?

  Lettingref uses data from TransUnion Information Group Limited to produce the individual's credit rating. If your tenant has an issue related to their credit rating they should contact the Callcredit consumer team on 0845 366 0071.

• What does it mean when I get a "non-match" for my tenant?

  If the personal and address details of the prospective tenant have been entered correctly, it is likely that any non-match is as a result of the prospective tenant not being registered on the electoral roll, or having opted out of the edited electoral roll or having no financial information recorded at their declared address.

  Please note that our credit checks are based on publicly available data and we rely on the individuals having one or more of the above to prove the identity of an individual. Without this information, it is often very difficult to obtain an accurate credit score.

  In this case, it may be necessary to rely on personal references and recommendations and/or to add a UK based guarantor to the reference to complete your due diligence.

   

   

   

   

• What happens when a known CCJ does not appear?

  Details of County Court Judgments and Decrees are supplied by the Sheriff's Courts to The Registry Trust Limited. This is an independent organisation established by the Lord Chancellor's Department for this specific purpose and which maintains the statutory public register of CCJs.

  The Registry Trust Limited notifies TransUnion Information Group Limited of all judgments, satisfactions and cancellations on a regular basis and they update their files accordingly. TransUnion Information Group Limited rely on this information being passed onto them by these parties and in this case as they haven't provided them with this specific CCJ, they cannot reflect this on their files, this is why nothing has returned when you have run a search on the individual.

  Details of County Court Judgments and Decrees are supplied by the Sheriff's Courts in Scotland to The Registry Trust Limited. This is an independent organisation established by the Lord Chancellor's Department for this specific purpose and which maintains the statutory public register of CCJs.

  The Registry Trust Limited notifies us of all judgments, satisfactions and cancellations on a regular basis and we update our files accordingly. We rely on this information being passed onto us by these parties and in this case they haven't provided us with this specific CCJ we cannot reflect this on our files, this is why nothing has returned when you have run a search on the individu