Landlords – we take referencing seriously!

At Cairn we pride ourselves on our strict and comprehensive referencing processes. Protecting our landlords from potential fraud risks or tenants that do not meet our criteria is a top priority at Cairn Letting.

As COVID-19 has introduced further complications for landlords, we will make sure you are fully updated with new legislation and facts regarding the changes to Government Legislation.

We have a highly experienced Compliance Manager and our Property Managers are all Fully Qualified, holding certificates with Letwell and ARLA who will ensure you are protected and can support you with any difficult situations you find yourself in whilst letting out your property.

Please find a list of the referencing documents we ask prospective tenants for in order to fully protect our landlords:

• Credit check – We feel this is crucial in obtaining the correct tenant for our client and allows us to validate if they are suitable for the tenancy
• Two Proofs of Address – This is important in order to ensure the potential tenants are who they say they are along with a copy of photographic ID
• National Insurance Number
• Check residence status – For overseas tenants we ask to see a copy of their visa or residence permit to ensure that they are entitled to be in the UK.
• Check for previous First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) eviction and civil proceeding decisions against the tenant on the tribunal’s website here.  Cairn always look into the detail of any case as sometimes the tenant will not be at fault.
• Employer/pension provider/accountant reference – this will detail their job title, contract duration and/or annual income.
• Last 3 months pay slips – This is a further procedure to check their current job role and salary is correct
• For students, we ask for a letter from their university confirming their student status. For students funded/paid by an organisation or government, we ask for evidence of paid income or funding for living expenses .
• Landlord reference – if the tenant has lived in rental accommodation in the past then we will obtain a reference from their former landlord/letting agent. This will state the tenancy dates, monthly rent due, details of any arrears, whether the property was kept clean and tidy, whether deductions were made from their deposit and whether there were any problems with anti-social behaviour or other breaches of the tenancy terms.

If a potential tenant does not meet our affordability checks we will ask if they can provide a guarantor. A guarantor is a person who agrees to pay the rent if the tenant fails to do so. You may also choose to ask for a guarantor if the prospective tenant hasn’t rented before, doesn’t have a regular source of income or you have any other concerns about their ability to pay the rent.

For student applications we ALWAYS ask for a guarantor.