What's your biggest problem with landlord references?

[Vitaliy Merkulov]

I'd like to know what is your biggest pain point about getting applicant's previous landlord references or giving references?

1. Landlords don't respond back to your request for landlord reference. Either you can't get a hold of the previous landlord or the landlord doesn't want to share anything about the tenant.

2. Playing the detective role of trying to see if previous landlords listed on the applications are legitimate and not applicant's friends.

3. Faxing and wasting so much paper

4. Spending a lot of time responding to multiple landlord reference request about the same tenant that is applying at multiple locations.

5. Not being able to simply check applicant's landlord references by running their credit or searching their name on some kind of central database.

6. Not knowing if the previous landlord is saying only good things about their current tenant because they simply want to get rid of the current tenant in question.

7. Fear of being sued by the tenant for providing true but negative information about their tenancy.

8. Not knowing what questions you are permitted to ask the previous landlord.

9. Other?

[Thomas S.]

I have no issues either way with landlord references. I do not have any problems separating the friends posing as landlords from real landlords and when a landlord calls me wanting background on a previous tenant I will give every detail. I would never think of withholding information from a landlord and have zero respect for any landlord that would.

In my mind there is no one lower than a landlord withholding information from another landlord.  Privacy concerns be dammed we have a responsibility to fully support each other in this business.