Negative Landlord Review

[Tina Opel]

When screening a potential tenant are you allowed to tell them what their past landlords said about them? I am in the process of screening someone who ended up moving out of state 6 months into a lease for a job transfer, so when I contacted the ex-landlord I expected them to say that the tenant broke the lease. They did, but they also said some things that I wasn't expecting, things that go against everything that all of their other references have said. I read somewhere on here about going back to the applicant and saying that there was an issue with the landlord review and that they should get in touch with the landlord and work things out until a positive review can be written. Is that all you are allowed to say or can they know what exactly was said?

[Michele Fischer]

I wouldn't tell them anything.  No matter what you say, they go back and badger the prior landlord, the prior landlord stops giving candid info, and the quality of tenant references goes down.  We are required to disclose if the credit report is the reason that they are being denied, but not otherwise.  We like to leave borderline candidates in a holding pattern until we can say "we're rented the unit to someone else".  Document what you found out for your records.  If they are still your strongest candidate, think about what it would take to help reduce the risk of the same thing happening to you.