Tips for Calling Prospective Tenant's References?

Question

Newbie landlord here - just wondering if anybody has tips for questions to ask/what to say when calling up references for prospective tenants. Thanks!

Dana Dunford · Answer

@Elliott Sulz - Here you go:

• Calling past landlords and employers: Here is the process that I follow

• RENTAL VERIFICATION:  Contact owner and ask following questions:  Can you please confirm [name] lives / lived there? Verifies living there. You want to make sure it's not a friend answering   What were the start and end dates of the lease?Confirms dates (and helps determine whether this is the real landlord or just a)  Were there any late or partial payments?Confirms payments. We recommend not forgiving more than one late payment.  Were there any noise violations or disturbances?Confirms whether tenant will cause issues with neighbors.  Did the tenant leave the property in the same condition as when he/she started the lease (excl. normal wear and tear)?Confirms cleanliness of tenant  Did tenant try to sue you?Confirms tenants amiability. Tenants often feel entitled to get their full deposit back, regardless of the condition. If a deposit was rightfully withheld, and the tenant still took them to court, then it’s a sign that the tenant is “trigger happy” and maybe a little crazy.  Would you rent to them again?Sums up the entire experience.
• Contact owner and ask following questions:  Can you please confirm [name] lives / lived there?
• Can you please confirm [name] lives / lived there?
• What were the start and end dates of the lease?
• Were there any late or partial payments?
• Were there any noise violations or disturbances?
• Did the tenant leave the property in the same condition as when he/she started the lease (excl. normal wear and tear)?
• Did tenant try to sue you?
• Would you rent to them again?

• Contact owner and ask following questions:  Can you please confirm [name] lives / lived there?
• Can you please confirm [name] lives / lived there?
• What were the start and end dates of the lease?
• Were there any late or partial payments?
• Were there any noise violations or disturbances?
• Did the tenant leave the property in the same condition as when he/she started the lease (excl. normal wear and tear)?
• Did tenant try to sue you?
• Would you rent to them again?

• Can you please confirm [name] lives / lived there?

• What were the start and end dates of the lease?

Confirms dates (and helps determine whether this is the real landlord or just a)

• Were there any late or partial payments?

Confirms payments. We recommend not forgiving more than one late payment.

• Were there any noise violations or disturbances?

Confirms whether tenant will cause issues with neighbors.

• Did the tenant leave the property in the same condition as when he/she started the lease (excl. normal wear and tear)?

Confirms cleanliness of tenant

• Did tenant try to sue you?

Confirms tenants amiability. Tenants often feel entitled to get their full deposit back, regardless of the condition. If a deposit was rightfully withheld, and the tenant still took them to court, then it’s a sign that the tenant is “trigger happy” and maybe a little crazy.

• Would you rent to them again?

Sums up the entire experience.

• EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION:Call employer and confirm:  Current IncomeType of employeeDates of employmentIn some cases, if it's a large corporation (employment verification) or apartment complex (rental verification), you need to go through a couple of extra steps and sometimes provide written consent to get this information.Warning: If they are a bad tenant, then the current landlord may say amazing things about them (to get them out of the current unit) -- sad, I know. So I typically call the landlord that is from the place before their current residence.
• Current Income
• Type of employee
• Dates of employment
• In some cases, if it's a large corporation (employment verification) or apartment complex (rental verification), you need to go through a couple of extra steps and sometimes provide written consent to get this information.
• Warning: If they are a bad tenant, then the current landlord may say amazing things about them (to get them out of the current unit) -- sad, I know. So I typically call the landlord that is from the place before their current residence.

• Current Income
• Type of employee
• Dates of employment
• In some cases, if it's a large corporation (employment verification) or apartment complex (rental verification), you need to go through a couple of extra steps and sometimes provide written consent to get this information.
• Warning: If they are a bad tenant, then the current landlord may say amazing things about them (to get them out of the current unit) -- sad, I know. So I typically call the landlord that is from the place before their current residence.

Marcia Maynard · Answer

Prepare your questions in advance and ask the same questions for each applicant. Ours are in these categories:

1. Rental History: Questions for Previous Landlords

2. Employment Verification: Questions for Employers

3. Personal Reference: Questions for Friends and Family

Some landlords and some employers will require you to send them proof that the tenant has given you permission to gather this information. So be prepared by having the tenant sign the rental application section that authorizes you to do tenant screening background checks and be prepared to fax this to those who require it.

Elliott Sulz · Answer

Thanks for the great tips everyone! I'll be putting them to use right away.

@Dana Hoffmann thanks for detailing your process! That's really helpful.  I particularly like "would you rent to them again?" - that's a great general question that gets you a lot of insight.

Mindy Jensen · Answer

@Elliott Sulz, here are some links to some pretty amazing articles.

How to Rent Your House

How to Screen Tenants

How to Buy Rental Property (Brandon also wrote an entire book on the subject.)

How to Evict a Tenant

Frank Eimiller · Answer

BiggerPockets has the "ultimate guide to tenant screening" available in the Education section

but other than that... I've heard of asking open ended questions of references and just letting them talk

Also, ask very specific questions to be sure that you're talking to the right person, and not just a friend of the tenants

I guess the main things to find out is if  they have had an eviction, if they paid on time, and if they followed the previous landlord's rules/lease

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