Always Verify That the Owner is the Owner on an App

[Angie W.]

Many people think that individual landlords are pretty stupid and lazy and that they won't check anything...

Just proved a point that was brought up a few days ago about verifying that you are speaking to the actual landlord and not a friend/family member.

My applicant listed her current address and listed the owner and telephone #. Before I even picked up the phone I went to the county auditors web site to check who the owner was. It did not match - not even close. I then went to check court records on her. There were a few, and none of them listed either address she had listed on her app.- that supposedly covered the last 26 years.

Out of curiosity I looked up the "owner" listed on the app. She ("the owner") is currently being evicted herself from another house on the street - and after some digging I was able to determine she is probably the daughter of the applicant.

I'm not even going to justify this with a phone call to tell her she is denied. She can find someone else to con.

Just thought I'd share because I am sure this one little step saved me a lot of headache. I knew something just didn't feel right. Guess my gut instinct was right.