I thought this was interesting.
I just spoke to another landlord who was checking references on one of my tenants who is moving.
It is very rare to have another landlord call me to check on a tenant. When one does call, it seem they are desperate to not hear anything wrong so they don’t have to reject their applicant. They are on the phone, but they have their fingers jammed into their ears, chanting “nah-nah-nah-nah” as they are asking (very few) questions.
This guy wanted to know if the rent was paid and if there have been unusually large damage repairs. Then he was done. He cut me off and didn’t want to hear any more.
The last one to call wanted to know if the rent had been paid. I tried to tell him that the applicant had 2 dogs over 100 pounds apiece and he cut me off and didn’t want to hear it. Nor was he curious about why the tenant had been given 30 day notice less than a week after he’d moved in.
Landlords, if you are going to screen, then screen effectively. When I check references, not only do I ask a lot of questions, but I get the other landlrod started talking about the rental business. Once we relate to each other, they will tell me even more about the applicant.
If you aren’t careful about how you screen, you will inherit someone else’s problems.