Would you ever consider an applicant who talked about (as to why they are moving) how they had to withhold rent and take their previous landlord to court (I'm not sure who initiated actually), even if they were completely right and justified?
My gut here is to say: no, there are enough applicants out there and just find one who hasn't had this situation.
It makes me wonder though if tenants in that situation are just in a "screwed if I do, screwed if I don't" situation. This specific example was that the landlord was not making necessary essential repairs and in the end only was entitled to half of the withheld rent.
To add onto this, if this comes out during the pre-screening process before you've made an appointment, do you still agree to show them the apartment and move forward with the application process or how would you handle this?
Realtor · Boston, MA · Member since 2014 · 159 posts · 75 votes
6y
@Nick Carlson I would personally pass on this applicant. Were you able to reach out to their previous 2 or 3 landlords to see if this is a pattern? If you do not feel comfortable with showing them the apartment or moving forward then let them know that you have decided not to move forward with them.
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 5k+ votes
6y
While tempting since it is the easiest thing to do, I don't think that I'd penalize him just for this. Landlords almost always ask for the prior landlords contact info. This guy knows this and is just giving you an honest heads-up as the prior landlord may trash talk him. It sounds like the court agreed that the landlord was in the wrong. It sounds like he is doing everything correctly.
Unless you are flooded with better applications, I'd ask for the landlord info from the one prior to this and see if there were any similar issues. And call the current landlord. Perhaps they would admit to their mistakes?
You can also look online in many places to see court records and see if he filed other suits or if other people filed suits against this current landlord.