How honest or informative are previous landlord references

[Travis C.]

Just for discussion...for those that do so, how much info do you get when calling prospective tenants previous landlords?

Do they usually give you all the details you seek or is it kind of like job references where the former employers typically don't give much info beyond confirming that the person did indeed work there previously. 

I am just asking for conversation purposes,  I do not normally contact previous landlords although I do ask them where they are currently living as part of my screening questions.  I am in a very rural area compared to most of you so I already know or "know of" most people that want to rent from me.  I see in alot of posts on here that many call previous landlords and I was just curious if you get good Info or not.

[James G.]

@Travis C. In my experience, MOST of the time they are honest. However you will get landlords who tell you that a tenant is fine just so that they can get out of their property and into yours. Just calling the landlord isn't going to tell you the whole story, just like just looking at their credit score isn't going to tell you the whole story. Check their income, credit history, previous evictions, background check, AND call their landlord... Then make your conclusion based on everything that you see.