Is it required by law to have two references per tenant?

JackHeuston

Hi all,

My girlfriend and I are looking to rent a new place and I'm not sure if I should trust this agency. Basically, after we described our set up and applied for a house we liked, they invited us to the viewing.

I go there and see the house, all good, the agent tells me to just send an email to confirm our interest and we'll see it from there.

I send an email and I'm asked for two references for the both of us, photo IDs and so on... Now, I have two references (landlord and work) but my girlfriend only has a work reference.

We exchanged a few emails and it comes out that it's required by law to have two references for each person on the lease. The agent even told me to look at the RTB site to confirm.

The house is gone as the landlord already picked someone else, the agency didn't even show them our profile. The agent told me that he'll call me as soon as he gets something new that fits our requirements, but that we should also find the second reference for my girlfriend.

I've looked online and I haven't found anything regarding this "law". In all places it's mentioned that references may be asked by landlords, and not having them is fine but of course other people with better references will probably be chosen...

Am I blind or did the agent simply come up with that excuse for some reason?

I also don't understand why he would make that up, if he'll make sure we'll get the next house he comes across. If he really didn't want us as tenants, he would simply stop communicating with us.

hawkelady

It's not a law at all. Not sure why he said that it is. Go to another agent perhaps

Sarn

A two reference requirement would not really work. If you had just moved out of your parents and were unemployed, it’d be impossible. Ultimately it would just lead to fake references.

Realistically though not having two leaves someone at a disadvantage.

Askthe EA

No legal requirement at all for refs. LL probably insists though.

Silly thing for them to say. I would get the second ref though.

Michael D Not Higgins

If you're dealing with this particular agent again, it's useful to know that this isn't a legal requirement but if they're standing between you and the landlord then you'll have to jump through their hoops (within the bounds of equality legislation). It might be that they're young and inexperienced and don't know the law fully and got confused between the agency's policies or landlord's request and the legal requirements but it sounds like they might have a standard policy to get two references.

JackHeuston

Askthe EA wrote: »

No legal requirement at all for refs. LL probably insists though.

Silly thing for them to say. I would get the second ref though.

Yeah of course it's nice having the second one. The whole thing threw us off a bit though because we were looking at this cheap house in a relatively rough area and it sounded a bit stupid to ask me for four references only after I took time off work to go see the house etc... I told them we wouldn't spend more time to look for another reference and to rest assured my girlfriend is a respectable person as her work reference states. Eventually I got upset because they held our profile for the landlord to see so I told them we would go with another agency.

If the landlord doesn't like our references, they can simply choose someone else at the end, I really didn't get why they were insisting for a fourth reference for such a run-down place just to give us the chance to show our profile a landlord.

The agent apologised saying he'll call me first thing as soon as he gets something that meets our requirements, but still, we need the extra reference... Maybe it's a "quality level" they want to offer to landlords, but I didn't appreciate the lie, no need to say it's a legal requirement if it's not.

Thank you all!

Mrs OBumble

Surely your GF has someone else who will be a referee for her (sports coach, voluntary work supervisor, former employer, person of standing in the community - eg priest, bank manager, lawyer, friend-of-the-family).

10pennymixup

Some LL's are looking for at least 2 references from previous LL's, along with proof of income ie payslips or similar. They want to know that the prospective tenant can afford to pay the rent and is not in the habit of screwing over LL's.

Some of the cleverer ones are also looking for the RTB registration numbers to confirm the tenancy existed, in case the LL reference is bogus.

A reference from the local priest won't mean a lot to them, especially when you are up against many others with better references.

It may seem unfair or unwarranted to some people, but that is the reality of renting in today's market. As Michael D said earlier, if you want their property, you are going to have to jump through their hoops.

davo10

There may have been some miscommunication, legally the LL is allowed to request references. You would be required to provide them if you want to be considered as a prospective tenant.

super_furry

Just give a friend's name and number and ask them, if asked, to say you rented from them and are absolutely brilliant.

TJ Mackie

super_furry wrote: »

Just give a friend's name and number and ask them, if asked, to say you rented from them and are absolutely brilliant.

Any decent landlord or agency acting on their behalf will suss out fake references with 1 or 2 simple questions.

Good way to find yourself blacklisted by an agency.

LirW

TJ Mackie wrote: »

Any decent landlord or agency acting on their behalf will suss out fake references with 1 or 2 simple questions.

Good way to find yourself blacklisted by an agency.

And how are people supposed to get into the renting game when they never rented and have no references?

davo10

LirW wrote: »

And how are people supposed to get into the renting game when they never rented and have no references?

With difficulty unfortunately. Many will be perfect tenants, but in an effort to reduce risk, a reference from previous landlord makes a tenant a more appealing applicant. It's the same as a job, most employers look for experience and references, but without a job in the first place you have no track record. Again this goes make to the same old problem, if you could easily and quickly remove a bad tenant, references would be less important.

10pennymixup

super_furry wrote: »

Just give a friend's name and number and ask them, if asked, to say you rented from them and are absolutely brilliant.

So by fraudulent misrepresentation then?

I wonder would the LL have a chance in suing the tenant and/ or referee in such a case, if they suffered losses as a result of false references?

And could it be done under contract law and outside the RTB?

TJ Mackie

LirW wrote: »

And how are people supposed to get into the renting game when they never rented and have no references?

With great difficulty. Not saying it's fair but that's the way it is. If a landlord is presented with 2 potential tenants, one with numerous references that include paying rent on time and looking after the property, and one with no references, then they can't be blamed for going with the former.

Of course if it was easier for Landlords to evict problem tenants then more might be willing to take on tenants without references.

GarIT

Sarn wrote: »

Ultimately it would just lead to fake references.

I'd say most rental references are fake.

davo10

GarIT wrote: »

I'd say most rental references are fake.

Don't know if others do this but I always phone the previous LL, as an earlier poster said, a few questions will catch out a fake one.

10pennymixup

GarIT wrote: »

I'd say most rental references are fake.

Where are you getting this from? Experience?

If so the fakes must have been easy to spot for you to say most references are fake.

GarIT

10pennymixup wrote: »

Where are you getting this from? Experience?

If so the fakes must have been easy to spot for you to say most references are fake.

I used fake references to get into my first place. It probably depends on where you are but in somewhere like maynooth for example where everyone is renting for the first time there’s not a real reference in the place. Anyone I know renting has used fake references to get the place.