Verifying references
So you’ve had your
apartment for rent and found a prospective tenant or several. Now you need to verify the tenant.
Besides doing credit checks, and the sorts, its important verifying the information the tenant provided. Spending some time verifying references is an investment in time that will pay of long term.
If you would have followed our other article
screening for tenants you would now have all the reference
information you would need.
Questions for landlord
- Did the tenant pay the rent on time every time?
- Did he follow the building and other non monetary rules?
- Did he get along with his neighbors?
- Did he give proper notice on move-out?
- How long has he stayed his current place and why is he moving out?
- If he has already moved out of the unit did he leave it in good condition?
- If the tenant were to apply today would the landlord accept him?
The most important questions here are #1, #2, #6 and #7. 7 is a great question since it get the landlord thinking.
Questions for employer:
- How long has he worked there?
- Does he get along with his co-workers?
- If he were to apply here again would you hire him?
It’s a good idea having these questions written down or memorized. These questions will not only verify that the tenant is telling the truth but it will also give a good idea of the quality of the
prospective tenant.
Fake references
Some tenants give out fake
landlord and employment references. Preventing this is important but hard to spot sometimes. It can be done by purchasing credit
reports or verifying addresses by doing a reverse phone lookups. Other than that, trusting your gut when you talk to the references and tenants will come in handy.
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