Applicant does not want us to contact current landlord

[Janice R.]

Of course that's a red flag.  The application has all the information about the current landlord but the standard form from the real estate agent allows the applicant to say "No" to the question "Do not contact landlord".  Could I contact the landlord anyway?  Should I just pass on this person?  Why would this information in this standard form?

[Nathan Gesner]

I disagree, for a couple reasons. First, if your policy is the require Landlord references then that means you apply your policy to every applicant equally and fairly. If the applicant doesn't allow you to call the Landlord then they clearly do not meet your requirement. Second, the applicant may claim they are leaving because of the Landlord but there are typically two sides to every story. What if she is hiding something? What if the Landlord is just an ordinary Landlord and the Tenant makes ridiculous demands that drove the Landlord nuts so they asked her to leave?

If you can't contact the current Landlord then I would require a previous Landlord (not too far in the past) or reject the application.