Moral Dilemma: what to say about terrible tenants when asked?

[Johann Jells]

Do you ask applicants for their current landlord's contact info? I do, but never call. A few years back I was put in an impossible spot. I was evicting a rotten couple, not an easy thing in NJ but I got lucky, and they showed up in court with a City social worker who said that they had a new place lined up but the eviction was keeping it from going through. I was asked to rescind the eviction and write a letter saying it was all a misunderstanding!  If I didn't it appeared that I would never get rid of them. I was basically being blackmailed. So I swallowed my pride and did someone a bad turn by giving them these horrible tenants. What was I to do???  

Ask for the contact info of the previous Landlord.

[Evan Haag]

@Johann Jells it’s always a very difficult scenario. I just had this happen to me last week. I have someone delinquent several thousands from the pandemic. Finally their lease was up, so I formally terminated the lease and am now evicting because they haven’t left (allowed under CDC guidelines). They said they had another place and gave my number as a reference. I told them “I am not going to compromise my integrity on your behalf, I’m sorry.” And they responded “Well that’s on you!.” — Potential new landlord called, and I answered every question honestly and recommended against renting to them. Haven’t heard anything back from either party, but eviction court is on 11/5.

I couldn’t in good conscience pass that person on to create a problem for another. Glad to hear others feel that way too!