A blind deposit...

Ninaaaaaaah

Ninaaaaaaah

Ninaaaaaaah

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across the pond
...what exactly is that? Can any of you explain?

A friend from Chile has moved to London and is now in the process of finding a room. Quite an ordeal with all the references required, but anyway he has found something nice and has been requested a blind deposit.

Advice?

hey thanks!
 
My thoughts exactly.

Is this through some sort of big, fairly well known rental agency?

If it's all private and he hasn't actually viewed it yet and is required to put a deposit I'd run...
 
I'm sure I saw something about this on the real hustle. They ask for a deposit without you seeing the property with a view to you having first option, but in reality they don't have any ties at all to the property and just take your cash and run.

Might be innocent. Is it a reputable letting agent or have you just found them through Gumtree or somewhere?
 
Advice your friend not to give any money before seeing the property and before having some sort of agreement in writing. You can easily get scammed in London in a number of different ways when it comes to renting a property.

EDIT: Also if you don't know someone then ask for some form of ID, driving license or passport and write down as many details as possible, only scammers will refuse you these.
 
In England we have what’s called “Blind Ownership”. It’s a throw back of several hundred years to the great plague. Basically, so many people died that there were houses everywhere empty and unoccupied. So if you owned/rented a property you placed blinds on the window so someone could see you were alive and the property was not vacant.

Obviously you took the blinds with you when you move. So if your friend is moving here from abroad and needs blinds he will need to purchase them from a Verified and Legal source.

There’s a stamp of dead hand clutching a rotting rat on the bottom left so it’s not hard to miss the correct type.
 
He is on his way to view it now.

Dodgy...yes. That's what I thought (but what is this blind deposit?).

Thanks for replies so far...also for the creative ones :p
 
A blind deposit is pre-determined amount because the actual deposit has not been determined as you've not found somewhere yet . For example: you need 10-20% deposit of £500-£1000 pounds.... could be anywhere from £50 (10% @ £500) to £200 (20% @ £1000) so a blind deposit would be taken, usually at £200 as it'll cover all eventualities.
 
PistolPete said:
A blind deposit is pre-determined amount because the actual deposit has not been determined as you've not found somewhere yet . For example: you need 10-20% deposit of £500-£1000 pounds.... could be anywhere from £50 (10% @ £500) to £200 (20% @ £1000) so a blind deposit would be taken, usually at £200 as it'll cover all eventualities.
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Since when do you pay a percentage of the rent for a deposit? It's normally just 6 weeks rent, or two months or something. I know that's a proportion of -- but anyone selling it a different way is just.. odd. If he's looking for a room then they'll tell him the rent, and tell him the deposit if he likes it.

In all honesty I would tell your friend to forget about dealing with whoever these people are. If you view a property/room and like it, they tell you the deposit required if you're interested (usually 6 weeks rent). Anything different from that and I wouldn't trust them. Especially in London. There are some big scams going around at the moment.

Also? Why is he using an agent to find a room in London? Get on Gumtree or Spareroom and he'll be fine. The only rooms I've ever viewed with agents were total hell holes. 7 bedroom houses converted into Uni-style halls, with locks on everyones door and no living room and a mess of a kitchen. He needs to find some people he wants to live with.
 
Scam said:
Also? Why is he using an agent to find a room in London? Get on Gumtree or Spareroom and he'll be fine. The only rooms I've ever viewed with agents were total hell holes. 7 bedroom houses converted into Uni-style halls, with locks on everyones door and no living room and a mess of a kitchen. He needs to find some people he wants to live with.
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Its private...craigslist

and thanks Scam...whats in a name...
 
Ninaaaaaaah said:
Its private...craigslist

and thanks Scam...whats in a name...
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:) I would definitely tell him to run, then. Even if he likes the room. Gumtree/Spareroom/Craiglist are fine if you're sensible. Paying money to anyone before you've seen the room or met them is not sensible. I wouldn't deal with anyone who asked, legit or not.

Dunks said:
It's London, find a reputable agency.
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In my experience it's a waste of time trying to find a houseshare with agencies. You'll only get the Uni-style halls like I described. They treat people renting 1 bedroom flats badly enough, I dread to think how little care and attention they give to people renting a single room. Anyway, you'd be hard-pressed to find any agencies letting rooms.

EDIT: To the OP, how far down the line is your friend? This may all be a misunderstanding. If he's contacted someone through CL and seen the room, and told them he wants it, they may just be asking for a deposit from him to hold it. Then he'll pay the rest when he moves in. It's just cover for them to take it off the 'market' and not have any more viewings. I don't know where they get 'bind' from, that just sounds dodgy. And if it's through CL how comes he has given references etc? :confused: Surely there's no agent involved? :confused:
 
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