Can a letting agents withhold landlords name/details?

[Sarahjsxx]

Hello,
So we've had a very difficult time trying to move into a new rental property, we were due to move tomorrow and yesterday the landlord removed the property from the market! So we are in a very difficult situation
We passed all the referencing checks, but the landlord kept asking for more information, my husband and I have different surnames but we've been married 7 years (not that this should matter) the landlord asked us to prove we are married, for 2 different references from our previous properties which we gave and apparently after that they just removed it from the market, these requests had been going on for the last 2 weeks. Rental properties rarely come up where we live and due to the small timeframe we were desperate for the property
In any case, we asked the letting agency for the landlords name and email or phone number, they said they can't give this due to GDPR, is this true? This does seem unfair due to the landlord knowing absolutely everything about our lives at this point and we can't know this basic detail?

It sounds like the issue was indeed with the agency and might have nothing to do with you. Otherwise, they would have told the agency to turn you down and look for another family.

I would definitely apply again, you have nothing to lose.

And no, they don't have to share the landlord details. Not even after you sign the contract. They legally have to put an address but that can that of the agency if they are working on behalf of the landlord.

Provided they don't breach the Equality Act, of course. The fact the landlord wanted to see a marriage certificate suggests that they may be in breach.

I would have a word with the new agent, with your cards on the table about previous application and see what happens. Nothing to lose is there?

Along with Bailiffs, Letting Agents are people I want to wash my hands after dealing with.

@prh47bridge Difficult to prove though, particularly as the couple ARE married. And that itself is not pertaining to a protected characteristic.
We're long-term private renters (myself,
husband, three kids - 16, almost 14 and 3) and I once saw a lovely place but we were told no children.

I'm not sure, i am open to applying again but my husband thinks the landlord might see our names and reject us straight away?!

Would it be beneficial to explain to the new letting agents what happened previously?

Do you have any evidence that the LL rejected you in the first place?
Even if he does this time until you pay a holding deposit, which wont happen until your offer/application is accepted, you have nothing to lose.
I probably wouldnt even bother telling the new Agent

We just had the holding deposit returned yesterday from this time applying, the agents said the landlord had issues with our reference. Our most recent landlord has their mum as the landlord, but it's her daughters who we communicate with and pay rent to etc. the landlord would not accept this and wanted reference from their mum but she is in a cafe home and has dementia. Finally they spoke to our current landlord, the new landlord wouldn't accept this even tho we said we will show our tenancy agreement with the daughters names on

We had to be out of our current property on Sunday but luckily they're letting us stay one more month. It's just more annoying that this was less than 48 hours before arranger to move in, we had arranged our internet to be moved there, packed 90% of our things and booked a van, plus rental properties don't come up often where we live 😩

I see
That does sound a bit odd from the LL but in some areas its a LL market so they can be very picky. Most Agencies I know use a Referencing Company and its very black and white, which can be good or bad but this LL sounds a bit strange so maybe you have dodged a bullet
I usually like all references etc to be settled a week before the move in date as a minimum but it can go to the wire

LLs are under so much pressure now to 'vet' potential tenants. They have to do Right to Rent checks; Proof of Identity; Proof of Employment; Proof of Affordability etc.
Failure to do these checks correctly can lead to problems down the line with insurance for example. If a LL insures their property for a married couple but this turns out not to be true, their insurance could be invalidated, because like it or not, the insurance algorithms are calculated in this stuff and the relative risk of different groups. Working professional, married couples are some of the lowest risk tenants.

The initial referencing checks are often just the start of the process, and 'passing these' doesn't automatically mean it's then a slam dunk into getting the property. Getting references from landlords before your current one is also now recommended as if you're a terrible tenant a current landlord will say anything to get rid of you!

But if you were due to move in so soon it does sound like it might be an agent problem, and not about you!

You didn't make it clear, did you supply your wedding certificate or not ?

Yeah come on OP, just buy your own place, it's super easy...

@underscorer Of course it is!
I mean, hubby and I (43 and 48) both work ft and long-term privately rent just for fun(!)

Sorry yes, we did give the marriage certificate
And we gave the reference of our previous 2 properties aswell

I convinced my husband to apply for it again, so I will do tomorrow. So does anyone think I should tell the nee letting agents what happened previously? Or try communicate with the landlord directly?!

I spoke to the new agents and they said the landlord won't be taking any old offers from the previous time it was on for rent and wants to 'start a fresh' so won't accept any new offer from us

Asking for a marriage cert is really weird. I’d not want to rent from them and I’m surprised the agent passed on the request

Yes I thought so, asking for more references isn't a problem but not sure why marriage certificate is relevant to anything

I'd say they had a problem with the agent, not the prospective tenants.

You can get the property owners name and address from the land registry for £3 but i'm also not sure what exactly you are reporting?

I think it sounds like it's a problem with us, as when it told the agent we had applied when it was previously on with a different agent he put me on hold and came back and said the landlord won't consider any old offers from when with the previous agents

I think you should just move on and look for somewhere else now.
It all sounds very odd and I can see why you are frustrated but you may have dodged a bullet - I handle a letting or 2 a month and I have never ever had a LL ask for a marriage certificate
Forget the whole things and start a new search

I still wouldn't assume you're the problem op. As has been said depending on the landlords contract with the previous agent if he lets to you he may have to pay fees to both the current agent and the previous one, and no landlords going to pay more than they have to. To me it does sound more like an agent problem, it sounds like he gave them notice and the reason they were delaying you signing the contracts was they were trying to change his mind.

Yes we're just moving on from this now, only becaus it's so rare for suitable rental properties to come up where we live we thought might aswell try again

I explained further up the thread why - it could invalidate the landlord's insurance if they said a married couple were the tenants and then it turned out not to be true.
Also landlords can be charged if they rent to someone who did not have the right to rent/ remain in the UK - hence checking if people are legally married, or a 'sham' marriage is in place, for example.

https://www.gov.uk/penalties-illegal-renting
It's no wonder LLs are leaving the sector in droves - they're now supposed to be the govt's unpaid immigration officers too!

When a LL requests info from a prospective tenant it's usually because they've been burnt in the past with a tenant who lied about something, or because they're actually following guidelines (not all do!).

There are usually so many potential tenants per property that as a LL I just used to avoid anything/ anyone with any kind of complications. Perhaps they deemed your previous rental situation to be 'unusual' therefore just decided to steer clear. Also, if they were unable to 'tick box' the 'reference from previous landlord' because technically it wasn't her, but her daughters, then they'd have to leave that as a negative which would lower your overall suitability score.

The LLs only responsibility is to get a Right to Rent share code from prospective Tenants. If he gets this then he is covered.
The Agents I work with get this pre Referencing or they dont proceed.
Never have any of my clients been asked for a Marriage certificate, its not up to them to weed out sham marriages.
Share code or Uk passport and thats it as far as immigration is concerned for LL's
However, you do get some who have no idea what they are doing - I recently had an isssue with an Agent who wanted my clients husband to be a Permitted Occupier and show his passport etc despite only visiting for a weekend from overseas once every couple of months

Maybe not
It could be that any client introduced from an Agency continues to be their client for commission purposes for a set period of time so the new Agency wouldnt want to put you forward
Anyway, whatever the case there is not point worrying about it now