Tenant applicants are getting smarter

[Bryce Y.]

So I had someone apply the other day, middle aged couple with 3 kids. Seemed very nice and professional. I am running their background and everything looks good so far. Employment is solid, previous landlord checks out.

Then I get to the current landlord. First thing I do is look up the address on the county assessor website. I see that this person owns 4 rentals spread over 3 cities. This is how the conversation went:

Me: Hi do you have any houses available to rent?

Her: Not at the moment; there is possibly one coming up. Are you interested in the one in City A, City B, or City C? (doesn't skip a beat)

Me: Well actually I was trying to do a tenant reference check, blah blah blah.

Her: Oh, they're the best tenants in the world (sarcasm, but she gave a good review)

I later ran their background and found out that the current LL filed for eviction this month, so I called the real LL and got quite a different story. In this case it was pretty easy, but had they not filed for eviction I think I would have ended up renting to these people. Kind of a scary thought. These applicants are really getting smart with coordinating things with their friends. Any tips/comments?