What can I do about my letting agent?

I applied to rent a house privately and had to go through an estate agent to do this. Thye told me to fill out an application form which asked for alot of my details, including my employment details, wage, earnings. ect.

I put down that I have two jobs. Im moving into this place with my partner. Hes a student so he needed a guarantor.

So then they say the applications accepted and we need credit checking. 3 weeks later (after many calls and trips down with different documents) they call me to say I have failed my check.

Not only that, but they called up the landlord first to tell him I had failed the check before telling me! So the landlord refused my application. Not only that but my letting agency said hat I wasnt earning enough to take on the property thats why. Now I said thats ridiculus, I have TWO jobs. More than enough to py for the house.

They then realise they left that out, and said theyd leave the landlord a message but theres nothing they could do.

Now surely they cant do that right?

I feel so messed around by this company and im very upset that they could do something like that,

They will not give me the details of the landlor due to data protection acts.


Whats the best course of action now?

I鈥檓 guessing that you are in the UK?
The letting agent is acting on behalf of the landlord i.e. the letting agent retains some of the rent (10-12%) for introducing new clients and for the administration of rent-collecting.
They will not divulge the landlord鈥檚 name and address and they are entitled to do so.
I鈥檓 afraid that your only hope is that they manage to contact the landlord and explain that they made a mistake. As this is the case (I can tell from your question that you are upset) your best course of action is NOT to lose your temper with the letting agent (tempting as it might be) and sweet-talk them.

Try another agency or house ... or be patient and wait the reply of the additional information of your second job

your boyfirnd would be best advised to get part time work , not sure they'd count your second job as its not your main income

if your not earning enought ot pay for the rent, they're not gonne rent to you are they

Hi there

It would seem that the system is failing you here. There are various reasons why this may be happening.

The first couple of problems you will face is your age and that this is your first property together. The second is the way credit ratings are checked and calculated. Unfortunately there are no rewards for being good and not using a visa card or having any other personal loans. A major part of credit checking is based around you having these and your ability to pay them. So if you don't have any loans or credit cards it can be very difficult for them to asses you.


Don't worry there will be other agents that will accept your application just shop around for one that will. All you can do is explain your situation to them and hope they see sense.

Best wishes

idai

You might try checking your own credit rating with Experian (www.experian.co.uk) and it seems to me that these people have been very haphazard about what they have checked and how they have used what they have found out..make an appointment with the citizen's advice bureau and find out if you have any recourse to fore them to correct any mistakes they have made.
If you have never been in debt before then you probably have a poor credit rating..oddly enough it has less to do with how much money you have than with how regularly you have paid off your debts and credit cards..which is stupid but there it is. You may find that you can build a good credit rating if you get a credit card and use it once a month..paying of the amount in full when as soon as you get the bill so that you incur no charges, but avoid cards with high interest rates anyway..some of them are outrageous now and if you do find yourself incurring charges you do not want them to be rediculous..that is, anything over 20 percent..and you can get much lower if you look hard enough. If you can not get one lower than that then don't bother at all...find a landlord who will take your employment status into account, accept a reasonable deposit and trust you to pay the rent..try a local housing association.