Many articles have been written, videos published and presentations made to the UK landlord on what typical services an Online Letting Agent provides.

In case you missed any of the above communications, the below article explains in simple terms what they do.

Online letting agents are letting agents that work for Private Landlords online. They generally do not have a ‘shop fronts’ with associated overheads, company cars or excessive expenses. The online letting agent invest part of these savings into technology, well qualified agents that can administer all the marketing, Tenant enquiries and paperwork a normal High Street agent can. The biggest and only difference where you make substantial savings is the property viewings are normally taken on by the Landlord or an associate/relation or even the current tenant of the property.

Apart from physically being present at viewings, using an online letting agent offers the landlord complete peace of mind knowing that virtually all other aspects of letting is being taken care of in a professional manner. It also means that the landlord need have little or even no experience of letting out property can be handled by the online letting agency.

When an online letting agency is appointed to take control of a landlord’s property the agent takes on a range of responsibilities which include advertising the property, securing and referencing the tenant, drawing up the tenancy agreement, rent collection and can arrange rent guarantees.

The UK’s leading online letting agencies offers a wide range of services namely:

Property Advertising
The property can be professionally advertised on a variety of well known property websites including Findaproperty, Rightmove, Zoopla, Primelocation, Gumtree and Globrix.

Tenant Referencing
Once a tenant has been secured for the property a comprehensive referencing process will be undertaken by the agent. This will include a credit check which will show whether the tenant has any CCJs (County Court Judgements) against them, has any outstanding payments or has made late payments in the past. The tenant’s bank account will also be checked and verified.

The tenant’s employment history will be looked into to ascertain facts such as contract type, their position within the company, their salary and length of time they have been in employment.

The tenant’s previous addresses for the previous six years will be checked against the voter’s role and past landlords will be contacted to ensure their were no problems with the tenants such as late payments or damage to the property.

The tenant’s affordability will also be calculated. This is done by multiplying the rent payments of the property to be leased by 30 and then matching this figure against the tenant’s annual income.

Drawing up the Tenancy Agreement
Once the credit and employment checks have come back clear a tenancy agreement will be drawn up. Once the document has been drawn up a copy will be sent to the landlord for approval. At this stage the landlord has a chance to add any other clauses which he feels apply to his property.

Securing the Deposit
The next part of the leasing process is securing the deposit for the rental property. The tenant will be sent a request for the agreed deposit amount which is usually the equivalent of one month’s rent. The deposit will then be paid into a secure holding account and both the tenant and the landlord will receive a confirmation certificate.

Deposits are required, by law, to be paid into secure holding accounts and failure to do so could result in the landlord having to pay a fine of three times the amount of the deposit.

Rent Collection
The first month’s rent payment will usually need to be made in advance. A standing order will then be set up to ensure prompt payments for the rent are received each month.

Rent Statements
Statements of all rent payments made are sent to the landlord every month. These will also show the Letting Agent’s fees so that the landlord has a clear indication of his rental income.

Rent Guarantee
Some online letting agents offer their clients a Rent Guarantee so, even if the tenant ceases to pay the rent, the landlord will still receive any monies due.

The online letting agent usually monitors all accounts and receives alerts when rent payments are due. Should a payment not show up on their system then the tenant will be contacted and a payment will be requested over the phone via debit or credit card.

If the tenant is no longer in a position to make their monthly rent payments the Letting Agent’s insurers will cover the costs of the rent payments to ensure the landlord isn’t out of pocket.

Insurance cover can be up to £10,000 worth of rent payments per month for up to 12 months as well as providing up to £25,000 in legal expenses cover.

It should be noted however that the landlord will only be entitled to the Rent Guarantee and legal cover if the tenant satisfies all comprehensive Tenant referencing checks.

Inventory Options
An inventory is vital when letting out a property and documents the condition of the property as well as any furnishing, appliances and white goods included. The landlord can do the inventory himself using an inventory template from the Letting Agent or can request the Letting Agent to undertake the inventory on his behalf for a small, additional fee.

Check In Service
If the landlord is unavailable or already out of the country then arrangements can be made to check the tenants into the rental property at the commencement of the tenancy agreement. Again, this would be for an additional fee.

If you are a landlord and would like to know more about how an Online Letting Agent can help you, visit lettingaproperty.com or call them on 0844 567 0578 to find out more.