Landlords Should Reference Tenants

Landlord Action has successfully gained possession of a property after one landlady’s six month battle against a serial offending tenant, highlighting again the crucial need to carry out thorough tenant referencing.

In August 2010, landlady Mrs Finberg rented out her two bedroom apartment. Her rogue tenant, after paying two months’ rent up front, made no further payments, and made ‘decorative’ changes to the property without permission, and moved her furniture into the garden where it rotted in the winter weather.

After two Court appearances, and an attempted counter-claim by the tenant on grounds of disrepair, further evidence demonstrated references had been falsified and the tenant had been evicted before for similar reasons. Mrs Finberg said: “This has affected every element of my life leaving me with clinical depression and being subsequently signed off work. I have learnt from my mistakes but I cannot stress enough to other landlords, the importance of carrying out thorough referencing checks, meeting with the person face to face, and taking out insurance to protect yourself, so that if the worst happens, you are covered.”