Onboarding: troubleshooting

Fixes for common onboarding problems and error messages. For how onboarding works, see Onboarding; for step-by-step instructions, see Onboarding: how-to.

I can’t see an onboarding a colleague started

Why it happens: the Onboarding panel opens on the Mine & Unassigned filter, which hides onboardings assigned to other people.

How to fix it: on the Onboarding panel, remove Mine & Unassigned from the person filter, or choose your colleague. You can also use Search.

I can’t see the Onboarding panel, or its buttons

Why it happens: your role doesn’t include Onboarding. The panel then says “You do not have access to onboarding, but you can still open the settings (cog icon)”. If you can see onboardings but not Onboard new applicant or the step buttons, you have view but not edit permission.

How to fix it: ask an admin in your organisation to give your role permission to view or edit Onboarding. Some steps also need other permissions: holding fees (Rent Collection), contracts (Tenancy Agreements), invites (Tenants).

The options on the Onboard New Applicant form are blank

Why it happens: occasionally the form’s choices, the move-in date picker and the Submit button don’t load the first time COHO is opened in a browser.

How to fix it: reload the page (press F5), then open the form again.

The room I want isn’t in the list

Why it happens: the Room list only shows available rooms by default.

How to fix it: tick Include unavailable rooms. If you’re onboarding into an occupied room, set the current tenancy’s move-out date first, and check for a clash warning after submitting.

The onboarding shows a clash or “Quick turnaround” warning

Why it happens: the move-in date overlaps another tenancy in the room, or follows straight on from one. COHO allows this, but warns you.

How to fix it: check both tenancies’ dates. Correct this one with Edit Tenancy, correct the other tenancy’s move-out date, or use Change room. A quick turnaround is fine if you’ve planned for it.

My applicant never received their invite

Why it happens:

1. The email or mobile number was typed wrongly.
2. The email went to spam or junk.
3. They’ve lost the message. COHO doesn’t resend invites automatically.

How to fix it:

1. Open the onboarding (View) and check the applicant’s details.
2. Click Resend Invite, correct the Email or Mobile number if needed, and click Send.
3. Ask them to check spam and look for an email from COHO with your organisation’s name.

My applicant registered with a different email

Why it happens: they opened the invite but signed up with another address. COHO asks them whether they’ll tell you or COHO should.

How to fix it: check the applicant’s details on the onboarding and update them if needed. If the onboarding doesn’t appear in their account, resend the invite to the email they registered with. If they started a new account by mistake, they can click Logout on the sign-up page and log in with the right account.

My applicant didn’t get their email verification code

How to fix it: ask them to click Resend Code on the verification page and check spam. If it still doesn’t arrive, check the email address on the onboarding and resend the invite.

I can’t change the holding deposit amount

Why it happens: a payment has already been matched to it in Rent Collection.

How to fix it: in the tenancy’s Rent Collection, open the holding deposit record and click Dissociate on the payment. Change the amount, then match the payment again. If you’re not sure, contact support before changing money records.

I can’t add a holding deposit

Why it happens: holding deposits can’t be added once the contract step has started.

How to fix it: take the amount as part of the move-in monies instead.

The room is still held after the hold period ended

Why it happens: Room held for is a guide. COHO doesn’t release the room automatically when it ends.

How to fix it: if the applicant has dropped out, cancel the onboarding and choose to make the room available. Otherwise carry on; nothing needs to change.

My applicant is “waiting for the referencing to be started”

Why it happens: referencing is your action. The applicant has done their earlier steps, and the onboarding is waiting for you to choose a referencing option.

How to fix it: open the onboarding, go to Reference checks and choose an option. Or click Skip for applicant if you don’t need referencing.

I can’t start a reference

Why it happens:

1. Essential or Credit check: your organisation’s address or public phone number isn’t filled in.
2. A reference is already running on this onboarding.
3. Payment couldn’t be taken for COHO credits (no saved card, or the card was declined).
4. Comprehensive reference: there’s no valid payment method on your account (“You have no valid payment method”).
5. Comprehensive reference: the property address, the applicant’s current address on their application form, or a guarantor’s address has no town, or a line longer than 30 characters. You’ll see a message ending “…must be 30 characters or fewer for Advanced Rent. Please shorten it…”.

How to fix it:

1. Add your organisation’s address and public phone number in your organisation details, then try again.
2. Wait for the current reference to finish.
3. Add or update your payment card. If you can’t, contact support.
4. Click Add now to add a payment method, or ask a colleague who manages payments.
5. Correct the address and try again: see The reference won’t start: “Please shorten it”.

The reference won’t start: “Please shorten it”

Why it happens: a Comprehensive reference only accepts address lines of 30 characters or fewer, and an address needs a town. COHO names the address and the line that’s too long, for example “The tenant address line 1 … must be 30 characters or fewer for Advanced Rent. Please shorten it in the tenant address.”

How to fix it (the tenant’s address):

1. Open the onboarding and go to the Application form step.
2. Open Completed application form and click Edit.
3. Click Edit on the address and choose or enter an address manually.
4. Shorten Address line 1 and Address line 2 so each is 30 characters or fewer. The town and postcode have their own fields (Town/City, Postcode), so they don’t need to go in these lines.
5. Save, then start the reference again.

If it’s the property’s address (“…Please shorten it in the property’s address.”): open the property, click Edit property and shorten the street name or address line 2 the same way, then start the reference again.

A reference result isn’t showing

Why it happens: results arrive in COHO automatically but not instantly. A Comprehensive reference typically takes 1–3 working days. An Essential check typically takes 24–48 hours. The applicant may also not have provided their details yet.

How to fix it: check the step says the applicant has provided their details. If it’s well past the typical time, contact support.

The referencing step is stuck after a reference was cancelled

How to fix it: open the Reference checks step and click Complete referencing to finish the step and move on.

I can’t offer a professional guarantor

Why it happens:

1. Your organisation isn’t connected to the professional guarantor service.
2. The property’s owner isn’t on your permitted list.
3. The rent is under £300 a month, or, for joint tenants, one tenant’s share is.
4. The onboarding has already started and it’s too late to offer it: referencing is complete, the contract has started, or the guarantor’s reference is under way or decided.

How to fix it: connect the service in Onboarding Settings > Professional guarantor, and add the property owner to Permitted property owners. If the onboarding has already started, look for Offer professional guarantor on the referencing step once a guarantor is required (see Offer a professional guarantor). If it isn’t there, cancel the onboarding and start a new one with a professional guarantor allowed.

My applicant can’t start their professional guarantor application

Why it happens: the applicant’s reference was skipped, or it failed and hasn’t been accepted. They see “Professional guarantor needs a proper applicant reference. Ask your manager to put applicant referencing in place before you start.”

How to fix it: run referencing for the applicant and accept the result.

I can’t skip the application form or referencing

Why it happens: the onboarding uses a professional guarantor, which needs both steps.

How to fix it: complete the steps. If you don’t need a professional guarantor, start a new onboarding without one.

I can’t see Create contract

Why it happens:

1. Rent is tracked in COHO and the rent schedule hasn’t been generated. The step says “Generate the rent schedule to see the tenancy agreement details here.”
2. You don’t have the Tenancy Agreements permission.
3. An earlier step isn’t finished, so the contract step hasn’t opened.

How to fix it: click Generate rent schedule and save it, then Create contract appears. Otherwise ask an admin for the permission, or finish the earlier steps.

The applicant can’t sign: their code isn’t working

Why it happens:

1. The 6-digit code expired (codes last 4 hours).
2. They asked for a new code within 60 seconds of the last one.
3. They entered a wrong code 5 times in 15 minutes, which pauses signing for a while.

How to fix it: ask them to wait a few minutes, request a new code, and use the newest one only.

I can’t confirm the contract

Why it happens: not everyone has signed yet. In joint and grouped tenancies, every tenant and any required guarantor must sign.

How to fix it: check who still needs to sign on the onboarding page. If a guarantor isn’t needed after all, click Remove guarantor from signing.

Rent in advance can’t be requested

Why it happens: the rent-in-advance amount isn’t set on the tenancy.

How to fix it: click Edit Tenancy, set the rent in advance, then set the move-in monies again.

The tenant got “Everything is ready for your move in” before we’d finished

Why it happens: that email and SMS are sent as soon as you save the move-in details, not when the onboarding is completed.

How to fix it: nothing to fix. If the details were wrong, update them and let the tenant know.

There’s no rent schedule after onboarding

Why it happens: the rent schedule isn’t created automatically; it’s generated in the contract step. It’s skipped if rent is managed outside COHO.

How to fix it: open the tenancy’s Rent Collection and click Edit Schedule or Create. See Rent Collection: how-to.

The onboarding won’t complete

Why it happens: a step is still in progress. Complete only appears when every step is Completed or Not Required.

How to fix it: check each step on the onboarding page; complete or skip any left in progress.

I can’t change anything on the onboarding

Why it happens: it’s been cancelled. A cancelled onboarding is locked.

How to fix it: click Restore Onboarding first.

Error messages

Message (as shown)	What it means	What to do
“You do not have permission to manage onboarding for this organisation”	Your role can’t change onboardings	Ask an admin for edit permission for Onboarding
“You do not have permission to manage holding fees on the rent schedule for this organisation”	Your role can’t confirm, keep or return holding deposits	Ask an admin for the holding fees permission in Rent Collection
“Tenancy move-in not provided”	The move-in date is missing	Enter a Move-in date
“No tenants have been supplied”	No tenant was added	Add the lead tenant and click Continue before submitting
“The same email address cannot be added to this onboarding more than once.”	Two tenants share an email	Give each tenant their own email
“An application form was requested but none was passed in from the inputs”	Set application form? is Yes but no form was chosen	Choose a form, or Leave it for later
“Holding Fee details were not provided”	Set holding deposit? is Yes but details are missing	Fill in the holding deposit, or Leave it for later
“Can’t collect holding fee with GoCardless if the Rent Schedule is disabled.”	Rent is managed outside COHO	Collect it another way, or choose Manage in COHO
“Holding fee amount too high”	The new amount is more than one week’s rent	Enter one week’s rent or less
“Holding fee amount too high for the group (combined outstanding holding fees exceed one week of group rent)”	In a grouped tenancy, this amount plus the group’s other holding deposits (waiting to be paid, paid or kept) is more than one week of the group’s combined rent	Lower this amount, or check the other holding deposits in the group
“Another holding fee for this group is being updated. Please try again.”	Someone is changing another holding deposit in the same group at the same time	Wait a moment and try again
“Cannot modify holding deposit amount whilst there are payments reconciled against it”	A payment is matched to the holding deposit	See I can’t change the holding deposit amount
“Cannot change the application form template after the applicant has completed it.”	The applicant has already filled in this form	Keep the form, or ask for missing information another way
“Cannot start reference because the organisation does not have a preferred address”	Your organisation’s address is missing	Add it in your organisation details
“Cannot create referencing, since one is already in progress”	A reference is already running	Wait for it to finish
“The tenant address line 1 … must be 30 characters or fewer for Advanced Rent. Please shorten it in the tenant address.” (or line 2, or the guarantor’s or property’s address)	An address line is too long for a Comprehensive reference	Shorten it: see The reference won’t start: “Please shorten it”
“The tenant address has no town or city. Please add one to the tenant address.” (or the guarantor’s or property’s address)	The address has no town	Add the town in the address’s Town/City field, then start the reference again
“Connect to the professional guarantor provider before offering a professional guarantor on an onboarding.”	The service isn’t connected	Connect it in Onboarding Settings > Professional guarantor
“Professional guarantor can only be enabled when creating an onboarding or via Enable professional guarantor once a guarantor is required.”	It can’t be switched on by editing the tenancy	Use Offer professional guarantor on the referencing step, or start a new onboarding with it allowed
“Finish applicant referencing first (continue or require a guarantor), then you can offer a professional guarantor.”	The applicant’s reference hasn’t been dealt with yet	Accept the result or require a guarantor, then try again
“Professional guarantor can only be enabled before personal guarantor referencing is underway, or after it has failed without a manager decision.”	The guarantor’s reference is already running or decided	Start a new onboarding with it allowed
“Every tenant on this tenancy needs a COHO login before enabling professional guarantor. Invite each tenant, then try again.”	A tenant hasn’t joined COHO	Invite each tenant, then try again
“Applicant referencing cannot be skipped when a professional guarantor is used.”	A professional guarantor needs referencing	Complete referencing
“The application form cannot be skipped when a professional guarantor is used.”	A professional guarantor needs the application form	Complete the application form
“Cannot create the rent in advance because the amount has not been set on the tenancy”	Rent in advance is missing on the tenancy	Set it with Edit Tenancy
“Changes cannot be made because this onboarding has been cancelled.”	The onboarding is cancelled	Click Restore Onboarding first
“Cannot restore Onboarding because the tenancy is set as deleted instead of cancelled.”	The tenancy was deleted, not cancelled	Start a new onboarding
“Too many verification attempts. Please try again later.”	Too many wrong signing codes	Wait, then request a new code
“A code was recently generated and you need to wait 60 seconds before you can generate another one.”	A new code was requested too soon	Wait a minute, then request again
“Your onboarding has been started and you can refresh the page to load it. Something went wrong with running post-save steps.”	The onboarding was created but a follow-on step failed	Reload the page and check the onboarding. If invites or steps look wrong, contact support