A recent poll confirmed that the worst scenario for many Landlords and Letting Agents is a 'tenant in rent arrears', with the majority of Landlords happy to see the back of such tenants and thus abandon the chase for the arrears.

A staggering 64 per cent of landlords polled reckoned that they had lost up to £1,000 a head over the last 12 months alone to non-payers with more than half (54 per cent) saying tenants had effectively 'run away' from the property, leaving rent unpaid.

And with new government legislation in the pipeline to prosecute private landlords for their tenants' antisocial or noisy behaviour, with fines of up to £20,000, the rewards from letting are gradually less appealing.

But the big issue has always been how one can prevent and discourage all of this from happening but now, Let Check Ltd has found a proactive and cost effective solution to this problem with the incorporation of Let Alert(TM).

The Let Alert register is a database that holds key information on tenants who have been in arrears with a previous landlord or agent.

Mr Emmanuel Nkwenti, Senior Marketing Manager commented: "Let Check pride themselves in their fair and honest approach by writing to the tenant at the start of their tenancy to explain under what circumstances they will be registered on the Let Alert(TM) database, should they default or be in breach of their contract."

"As no tenant is registered on Let Alert(TM) without a valid court or local authority order, the Landlord and Agent can be assured that they are accessing the only safe and reliable information available on the prospective tenant."

Let Check works on the basis that a tenant is unable to move to another rented property, without first discharging his or her debt to their present landlord.

Let Check consists of 2 registers:

• The 'watch' register
  If the landlord or agent wants to proceed with a tenancy, they can place the tenants' details, including the letting address here. Let Check will write to the tenant to inform them that this has happened.
• The 'let alert' register
  This database is searched before the landlord or agent is allowed to register a tenant. It holds a record of tenants who have defaulted on their rent payments, had antisocial or eviction orders, or been in breach of their obligations for whatever reason during the term of their tenancy. It shows how much is still owed and the original amount of the debt. Tenants remain on Let Alert for 5 years from the date of settlement of their debt.