Rejecting a Prescreening for a Tenant

[Daniel K.]

I prescreen applicants via e-mail before showing my property.  This is my first rental which has just been listed yesterday.  One applicant asked me first if I accept Section 8, which I do, so I said yes and sent her a prescreening.  She replied to the prescreening with what can be inferred as an adverse reference from her current landlord: she said that she has been at her landlord's property for 3 years, but she needs a bigger place with her growing 2 children and her landlord does not accept Section 8.  

The crux:  

This means her landlord is trying to get rid of her; he must have other larger properties, but the landlord does not want her to stay enough that he will accept a section 8 voucher to allow her into one.  I see no other reason for this.  If I called the landlord he might lie in order to get rid of her anyway, plus people's time gets wasted that way.

What's the best way to handle a prescreening like this where you can infer that the tenant shot themselves in the foot?  Should I just tell her that it appears her landlord has an unfavorable opinion of her tenancy, based on what she said to me?

 

[Karen O.]

Originally posted by @Daniel K.:

I prescreen applicants via e-mail before showing my property.  This is my first rental which has just been listed yesterday.  One applicant asked me first if I accept Section 8, which I do, so I said yes and sent her a prescreening.  She replied to the prescreening with what can be inferred as an adverse reference from her current landlord: she said that she has been at her landlord's property for 3 years, but she needs a bigger place with her growing 2 children and her landlord does not accept Section 8.  

The crux:  

This means her landlord is trying to get rid of her; he must have other larger properties
 

Or, maybe it means she is in a 2 bdrm, wants to upgrade to 3 and is approved by Section 8, but the landlord DOESN"T HAVE ANY. You are making a lot of assumptions from the very little info you have written above. I take section 8, but only in my 2bdrm apts. I don't have any 1 bdrm and my houses with 3bdrms are on the other side of town and priced above section 8 limits. If I had a section 8 tenant want to move up, I don't have any options for them, if they need to stay on the voucher.

Why not at least call the landlord and find out if there is anything to your assumptions. This is your first rental and you need to get used to actually talking to references, anyway.