Applicant smells like weed

[Frank Nguyen]

If you made several attempts to contact his current landlord reference and they did not answer is this a valid reason to deny his application. Do you need to tell him prior to denying his application that his current reference did not answer or can you deny right away?

[Dominic Mazzarella]

Quote from @Frank Nguyen:

If you made several attempts to contact his current landlord reference and they did not answer is this a valid reason to deny his application. Do you need to tell him prior to denying his application that his current reference did not answer or can you deny right away?

If the applicant has a strong odor of weed and you can't verify rental history because the reference won't respond, you’re well within your rights to deny the application. You don’t need to explain why unless local laws require it. Just say they didn’t meet your screening criteria. It’s not about the smell alone, if they check every other box and meet your standards, that’s a judgment call. But if rental history is a required factor and you can’t verify it, that’s a valid reason to move on.

You don't want to be in a position where you regret taking this person on as a tenant.