What Questions do you ask when calling employers/landlords?

Question

I have what looks to be very good potential renters. They have no evictions or judgments of any kind and on the application state that their income is more than enough to handle the rent and all other expenses.

Now I am to the point in the verification process where I need to call to verify employment and rental history. I plan on asking for current pay stubs in addition to calling to verify.

Does anyone have a standard set of questions they ask to verify the information provided on the application or orally?

I was thinking of something like this:

Is this person employed here?

How long have they been employed by your company?

Can you verify the income they have listed?

Landlords:

Were they tenants?

When did they occupy the property?

Did they pay on time?

Was there any problems?

Any advice from more seasoned landlords would be greatly appreciated.

Ellis San Jose · Answer

Best question to ask former landlord

Would you rent to them again?

Angie W. · Answer

All great advice.

I always look up the phone #'s of the employers to verify they are the same, and call the main # not the one listed on the application.

For residential history; if it is an apartment complex I will look up the # and call the office. If it is an individual I look up the property at the auditors office and verify name and number.

It's too easy for people to put down their friends or relatives #'s and have them pose as a supervisor/landlord.

@Aly L I like the way you word your opening question to the "landlord". I'm going to write that down.  Sometimes I find myself tongue tied when I make calls.

Bill Gulley · Answer

It's a good indication if they are paying that on their own! Not so good if it's a judgment. :)

Aly W. · Answer

Good luck @Angie W., you'll be fine. Practice makes perfect :)

Dawn Anastasi · Answer

Always ask how the applicant was as a tenant, did they take care of the property, pay the rent on time, etc.  Also the infamous "would you rent to them again" question.  Be sure you're calling the actual owner.

Aly W. · Answer

Be sure you're speaking to their actual landlord. I first look up the address the tenant listed in the tax records. Is the owner the same person they listed as the landlord? If yes, next step. Call the landlord but don't assume that's who answered the phone. What I say is "Hello, my name is <blank>, I have an application from Jane Smith to rent my property. Your name is on the application; how do you know Jane?"

What this does is eliminate any "fake" landlord or friend that is pretending to be one. Because if you ask straight out if you're speaking to Jane's former landlord, and it's a friend, they'll say yes. If you phrase it like you don't know exactly who you're talking to, the person has to remember if they're supposed to be playing the landlord, the employer, the reference, etc. I know this sounds paranoid, but I've had several applicants give me the name of a landlord who turned out to have nothing to do with their current/former rental, or who was really a relative.

If the tax records do not match, ask the tenant why. They will rarely be able to answer coherently. They'll usually end up saying "I don't know, I just write a check every month to this person". Ask for canceled checks if you're not convinced.

For employment verification, I first look up and call the main number of the company/employer, and ask for the person they named as their supervisor. If there is no such person there, I'll note that, and then call the supervisor's number directly. Depending on how they answer the phone, I'll proceed. But I would first ask why I could not reach them through the main number.

Most large companies will only release employment verification if you fax/email them the tenant's signed rental application. Mine says I have the right to verify employment. Make sure yours says that. If the company policy is to have it done in a different way, I'll make a reasonable effort, then tell the applicant to get involved if I can't speak to anyone directly. I also request 2 recent pay stubs. If a tenant is self-employed, I ask for 2 years of tax returns. I've had applicants say they don't pay taxes, it's all under the table. I don't rent to anyone that can't prove income. One offered to give me a letter signed by her father in law, who "employed" her. Ummm....no.

It's not often easy verifying applicants, but it's even harder to get rid of a problem tenant.

Steve Babiak · Answer

I ask any and every question that I think I can get an answer to.

With larger operations (big employer or property management operation), almost always they require you have a written authorization form signed by the applicant; and I expect that they will require the questions to be written and they will reply if they choose to.  So for employers, I keep it simple, just like in your first post above; Bill's question on future employment will get asked, but it likely goes unanswered.  For the landlord, you should also ask the amount of rent and how many times they paid late (rather than if they paid late - frequency / patterns are what you are trying to understand). Ask what the utility responsibilities were for the tenant (who pays what).  Ask about frequency of maintenance requests and how well the tenant maintained (housekeeping). Also ask about the move-out condition of the property (if one that isn't where they currently live), and whether there was anything owed at move-out and what damage occurred.

With smaller operations, I try to get a conversation going, where lots might be told without even asking.

Angie W. · Answer

Thanks for the advice.

This is a young couple with very little to no rental history. The one place they have rented (an apartment/townhome) they claim they broke the lease and moved due to a mold problem that they couldn't get management to rectify. In addition they also admitted that they are still paying off the lease by automatic draft @ $25 a week.

Still investigating and trying to piece things together on their employment and residential histories.

Bill Gulley · Answer

All good, with employers .....what are the expectations for future employment or is this person expected to be employed in the future. ARe expectations good, fair, questionable or poor. That's about all the can say.

I don't care when the rented so much as how long were they tenants with you? I'd not make them go look up dates.

It's better to verify in writing, you can ask a lender to see a verification of credit, employment and from landlords, use that for your form. Never give it to a tenant to have completed. Call if you don't get it back in a timely manner. :)

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