Applicants having a friend pretend to be their landlord for reference

[Kyle Hipp]

I am currently listing a place for rent. I have this couple come over and explain to my wife prior and myself at the showing how their current place is bad and that the ceiling caved in twice. They go on with some other stories and the like.

The gal loves the place and askes for an application and fills it out right then and there. They didn't seem to care much about the utility information or other important topics. I went through the application quick and they missed a couple things. She explained earlier that they had been taken to court by a previous landlord but that the landlord actually ended up paying them money. Court documents showed different. So when the questions in the application asking if they have ever been sued for unlawful detained, she insisted that she has never been sued and that isn't a real thing, I was quite confused.

Now the best part. I noticed she didn't have a contact number for her current or previous landlord. She didn't have a number for her prior landlord. She did however have a name and number for her current landlord where she has resided for a year. She knew the name and number without even looking. That was my first clue. The next night I looked up their current property and the owner information was different than the name she gave, (red flag, but her name could be a property manager). I called the number today and a guy answered when it was supposed to be a woman. Now I don't know how many landlords out there share a cell phone but it can't be many. I told the man my name and that I was calling for the woman and that is all I said. I got a call back a couple hours later at just after 8pm. The correct lady is on the phone now, and I say I am calling about her property in the city. She says yep, and names the address. I ask her how long she has owned the property and she says yes the couple are very nice people and they have been here a year. Now I have never mentioned that I was calling about them at all to anyone at this point. I asked again how long she owned the property and she said a while. It was funny because aftert each question, there was a muffled pause and then an answer. I asked how much their current rent was, if they were ever late and they sounds like model tenants. I asked why they are leaving and she replied that their lease was up. Then I asked if she was the property owner and she said yes. I then asked if she could explain to me why a different name was on the property records at the city. Then she hung up on me ;)

Needless to say, they will not get the place. I'm curious to others experiences where they have caught an applicant in a lie....

[Rob K.]

One good thing to do is call the alleged landlord and say you are calling because (prospective tenant) listed them as a reference. You don't need to say it's for a rental house. A "reference" can be for a lot of things - new job, adopting a puppy, carrying a gun, etc. If they are the landlord, they will say so. If not, they might get tripped up right then.

If they are a fake landlord, but playing along, ask how long the person has lived there. Now, if the tenant listed the rent as $900, say, "It says here, the rent is $850. Is that correct?" This could trip up a poser as well.

As far as your current application, mine asks "has a landlord ever filed papers against you in court?" This is different from an eviction as most court filings never get as far as an eviction. I don't want anyone that has had a landlord go through the BS of going to the court and filing papers. Also, most people wrongly think that an eviction means all of their stuff was thrown out on the lawn by the court. They think if they move out five minutes before the sheriff arrives, that's not an eviction.

I would automatically reject your applicant for the court filing before ever calling a previous or current landlord, real or fake.