What to ask personal references

Question

I have prospective tenants who have no prior rental history. They live with their parents. I ran a credit check and they have good credit. Their income is low for the property.

They gave me personal references - friends, family.  What should I ask these personal references?

Eve Mahoney · Answer

Thank you Steve, those are great questions!  One reference has not called me back yet so if this moves forward I'll use those.

Good tip on not using family, too.

Kathleen Leary · Answer

Yikes! Either get an income-stable co-signer on that lease or move on! I know it's tough starting out, but it's YOUR INCOME if they don't pay up.

I personally have pretty much given up on references; it's an additional hoop for applicants to jump through, which can help weed out folks who aren't really that interested. But every person will say, "Sure, Lazy Larry is a great guy & I'd rent to him in a heartbeat," blah, blah. I've had foremen tell me flat-out what a hard-working, dependable guy so-&-so is, only to find out from the company itself he only works one day a week & doesn't show up half the time.

Seriously: are you going to put down somebody as a reference, knowing they're going to throw you under the bus? I'll bet not.

Michele Fischer · Answer

Ho long they have known them, whether you think they would be good renters, would you consider them responsible, ask them about their work,  verify they don't have pets, try to string together 10 questions, some of which are just more conversational.

Steve Vaughan · Answer

Would you lend them $50 and expect to get it back? How about $500?

Would you lend them your car for the weekend? How about a week?

Questions like that have given me some worthwhile info into how personal refs really feel about their character. Oh- and my main 2 personal refs requested on my app can't be family.

Jeff Bridges · Answer

Parent's as guarantor/ co-signer. They have no rental history and insufficient income  so you dont know if they will be slob or be diligent in paying the rent on time. If their parents really believe them to be on-time paying and take care of the property, then they should have no problem serving as guarantors and nothing to worry about. Basically you have no idea how they can manage their finances or their life when they are fully independent. Also if your policy is 3x the rent in income and no co-signers, then they don't meet your criteria and reject...

Eve Mahoney · Answer

Thank you Colleen, good point, people lose jobs every day.

Eve Mahoney · Answer

As it turns out the parents would not co-sign. We turned them down.  Thanks for all the input!

Now we have another applicant. Both spouses work. Together they earn more than enough to qualify. The wife is expecting. Either spouse”s income alone is too low.  I don’t know their work plans after the baby comes. Can I even ask?

Eve Mahoney · Answer

Thank you! Good suggestions.

Their income really is too low for this property. Unless one of them is working off the books or something.  No jobs show up on record for one of them since 2007.  I've asked them for a co-signer.  We'll see what happens.

What to ask personal references

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