All Forum Posts by: Vitaliy Merkulov

Ryan Roberts if there was a way to verify if the applicant stated correct info about their previous landlords, and landlords would not have to play a detective, would you find landlord references useful at that point?

James Wise you're right about the fact that there is no incentive to provide a reference. But wouldn't you want your applicant's previous landlord to provide the reference? I guess if there were some kind of rewards system or incentive, do you think more landlords would give references?

I'd like to know what is your biggest pain point about getting applicant's previous landlord references or giving references?

1. Landlords don't respond back to your request for landlord reference. Either you can't get a hold of the previous landlord or the landlord doesn't want to share anything about the tenant.

2. Playing the detective role of trying to see if previous landlords listed on the applications are legitimate and not applicant's friends.

3. Faxing and wasting so much paper

4. Spending a lot of time responding to multiple landlord reference request about the same tenant that is applying at multiple locations.

5. Not being able to simply check applicant's landlord references by running their credit or searching their name on some kind of central database.

6. Not knowing if the previous landlord is saying only good things about their current tenant because they simply want to get rid of the current tenant in question.

7. Fear of being sued by the tenant for providing true but negative information about their tenancy.

8. Not knowing what questions you are permitted to ask the previous landlord.

9. Other?

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

I always start with Google. It's free, it's easy and it's usually where the story starts to unravel. Here are a couple examples:

* Googled the landlord phone number and found a recent craigslist ad selling some ratty speakers. The name in the ad did not match and the ad looked like it was written by a crackhead. APPLICATION REJECTED.

*Googled the landlord name and found that the "landlord" was a secretary at the construction company the applicant said he owned. Really? This girl is "your" secretary and you're renting a house from HER? Give me a break! APPLICATION REJECTED.

*Googled an applicants stated address and found an old rental ad for the property. I called the number from the ad and spoke with the real property manager who stated she was in fact the tenant, but she was very behind in her rent...they were considering eviction. APPLICATION REJECTED.

*Looked at property records and the name recorded did not match the landlord name given on the application. I called the number and spoke to someone who had no clue about the property. After about 5 minutes of stumbling and fumbling through answering my questions, he was able to come up with a story about his Aunt who lives out of state and owns the home and lets him manage the property. He said he'd have her give me a call. I said...well, I know the name of the property owner, can you tell me the name of your aunt? He hung up on me. APPLICATION REJECTED...bonus points awarded for creativity.

p.s. Silence is key. I'm never afraid to let a little silence into the phone call. A liar will be so uncomfortable with the silence, they'll almost always say something stupid and give themselves away.

p.s.s I did actually call every single one of these numbers to verify what I already knew. Then I scan all the applications into my computer and add a text box at the bottom stating why the application was denied. Gotta cover my backside!

p.s.s.st (lol) I notify applicants by email if their application was rejected. I have a standard message...I just change the name and the reason. I never reply to their replies and I never take future phone calls from them. There's nothing else to be said. Your application was denied for the reason stated and you should just keep it movin'. I know I will. :)

 Shannon, when verifying if the the landlord stated on the application is the real landlord. What if the owner is John Smith but hired a property manager Joe Doe to manage the house. When you look up the property records it shows John Smith as the owner but the applicant stated Joe Doe, but you already rejected the application because the records don't match. What do you do in this situation? 

One other tip about getting landlord references. Instead of calling the previous landlords and asking them random questions about your applicant, just ask the previous landlord for their email address and go to www.renterinc.com and request a landlord reference online. This way, you will only be able to ask questions that are legal, and you will have a paper trail. Because if you deny someone based on the landlord reference, you have to notify the applicant about it. Now you have a record of your interaction with a previous landlord that you can present as evidence. That's just one reason.

You can use renterinc.com to request landlord references online instead of calling the or faxing the previous landlords. Plus you'll be able to see if landlords already shared their landlord references about your applicant.

@Jason V.

@Rumen Mladenov

@Jeff Robert

@Tom Ott

@Phil Earley

@James DeRoest

I'd love to get feedback from from you guys about this.

Thank you for your feedback, I have created Renter, the "Yelp for Landlords" website that I was talking about. http://www.renterinc.com

Here is a sample landlord reference that was submitted by a previous landlord.

@Jason V. @Rumen Mladenov  @Jeff Robert @Tom Ott @Phil Earley @James DeRoest

Visit the website, watch the how-to videos, and register and play with it and then let me know what you like and dislike about the website so I can further improve Renter. I will greatly appreciate everyone's feedback.

I'm looking for people who would like to join me in making this a reality. I'm looking for a co-founder(with startup experience), engineers, designers, sales people, marketers, bloggers, mentors, and of course investors. I want to make this a reality and I'm ready to give away big portions of equity to the initial people who join me. Message me privately if you're interested in joining me.

If anyone thinks there is a need for this, let me know by responding with "I would use it" or "I would NOT use it"

@Jeff Robert I'll definitely need help if I decide to do this. I'll keep you in mind.

The big question at this point is:

Is there a need for this kind of landlord references database for landlords?

Please take a 5 question survey http://goo.gl/forms/sPuJqyLI5l