www.iva.co.uk

I am 20 months into my IVA (all payments are up to date) and I am looking to rent a property with my girlfriend.

The letting agent that has x2 properties we like use a company called MARAS to do their credit checks.

I have two questions really.

Shall I contact MARAS anonymously first and tell them of my situation and I want to take on a flat with one of their agents?

Or shall I just go through the references/credit check proceedure with the estate agents and see what comes out?

Thank you for your help in advance.

Mark

I would speak to the agent and explain up front. Provide a letter from your current landlord as this is much more important than whether or not you are in an IVA. It is a buyer's market and numerous properties are lying vacate so if he insists on running credit checks and you fail, go elsewhere or use a private landlord who would have no access to credit reference agencies.

It's the letting agent or the landlord who will make the decision based on the information from the credit check so I would speak to the letting agent.

As Michael has pointed out, references will help here so a good reference from your current landlord and also support from your IP should work in your favour.