The laws governing tenancy creation are complex and ever evolving, but OpenRent's tenancy creation process, Rent Now, is designed to ensure you are compliant by default - whilst still retaining the flexibility landlords and tenants require.
Can I use my own contract / AST?
As part of the tenancy creation process, Rent Now, we use our vetted tenancy agreement, used to create hundreds of thousands of tenancies and process £100m+ of tenant funds. The OpenRent contract has flexibility for custom clauses, as well as being configurable, so there shouldn't be a strong reason to use your own contract.
Sadly, we can't vet or have our legal team look at landlord's own custom contracts, and as such can't support them on our platform as we wouldn't know if they were legally valid or not. However, if you think our contract is missing anything important to you do let us know or add custom clauses via the website. By using the OpenRent contract you can be sure your tenancy is up to date with housing laws, is legally binding, and that you don't fall afoul of any of the hundreds of legal requirements imposed on landlords.
Can I handle initial rent payments or deposit payments from tenants myself?
In order to use Rent Now there are certain processes we need to follow to keep both landlords and tenants legally protected - the payment of funds is a critical part of tenancy creation and doing so correctly is critical to make sure both landlords and tenants don't fall afoul of the law (eg. the Tenant Fees Act).
As such we advise against taking any funds directly from tenants, and to follow the site guidance on what the next steps are. This ensures you are legally protected, and your resulting tenancy is valid in the eyes of the law.
Our contract, money handling, and process for ensuring your tenancy is set up legally are all inextricably linked. This protects landlords against legal action from tenants themselves, or tenant legal support services down the line and ensures landlords are compliant with the latest housing and tenancy laws.
The deposit will be protected with a government approved deposit protection scheme as soon as funds clear, and rent is released shortly after move in. Making the initial payment is also typically easier for tenants when using OpenRent since we support payment by debit card, bank transfer, open banking, as well as international options. We notify you as soon as payment is made so that you can hand over the keys when convenient.
I've already taken money from a tenant or tenants:
If you have already taken deposit or rent money directly from a tenant or tenants, please see our guidance here.
I'm not happy with the Rent Now process:
Whilst the vast majority of Landlords are blown away by the ease of Rent Now and it's low-cost, we understand some landlords have very specific requirements and may not want to use it. We're always open to feedback if there is anything you think we can add or improve.
a) If you haven't yet accepted a holding deposit: Then you aren't in the Rent Now process and are welcome to set up tenancies directly at your own risk as long as tenants are happy with the arrangement you propose to them.
b) If you are engaged in a Rent Now application already: And find that it is not a suitable service for your specific requirements, you just need to cancel the application on the website. You can cancel at any time until the tenancy is created, and by doing so, the holding deposit will be returned to the tenant. You are then free to proceed with the tenancy directly with the tenant and can still make use of referencing and our other services on a standalone basis. Please agree this with the tenants up-front, as they might be unwilling to send funds without using some form of escrow service for their own financial security.