I’m in the process of screening some tenants but they don’t have a previous landlord for references. they are selling their home in a different area of the state and would like to move to the town my rental is in. Do I just forgo the reference check? Or is there another option you would recommend? Do I ask them for proof their house is actually on the market, so I know they’re not trying to hide a poor rental history?
Property Manager · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2019 · 446 posts · 566 votes
6y
How is your criteria worded? Do you only ask for the current landlord's information? Past 5 years? Past 3 landlords?
It is a bit harder to screen a homeowner, because despite not having a landlord reference, they might still be highly qualified. However, they might not have been homeowners for long, so depending on what specifically your landlord reference/residential history criteria is, you may still be able to capture some information from a residence prior to this house.
Also depending on how you word the question, they may still need to put their current address (even if they are not renting) on their application. You can then check that the house is on the market, check how long they've owned it - all of this is public information.
Furthermore, if you run their background/credit check, it will show recent/known addresses. If they tell you they've lived only in this house for 15 years but the report comes back with 3/4 addresses, you should ask about that.