Validation of previous landlord

[Vivek Kumar]

Often times when reviewing a application I want to check previous rental history and ask applicant the name of previous landlord. 

i then usually check that with county tax records. Recently I have found almost all the cases where the owner name in county record is different from what applicant stated. 

this made me wonder if my assumption that name should match in county records is valid?

fyi. I make sure to ask that the person applicant gives me is the owner not the property manager