I've been a landlord for many decades and feel like I'm pretty thorough in my background checks and reference checks employment checks etc and I feel like I've been pretty lucky until recently. A tenant I've had for 3 years I discover is just trashing the house he rents from me. When I say trash I mean just doesn't keep up the things that he's agreed to keeping up. He gives me all the verbals yeah okay I'll put the hurricane shutters up yeah okay everything's fine but when I go over to take a look things are not fine. We have discussion about it he agrees but the outcome is the same. My question is about references I ask for previous rental employment previous employment I do background criminal credit checks that stuff only goes so far You really don't know what kind of person they are. Of course if you ask for personal references not family they're going to give you a friend or two or three who says yeah they're great they're reliable If I had one person I had to depend on it would be this person. I've learned that doesn't mean squat. When it comes to being a responsible individual. So I'm curious as to what other references might I use aside from employment previous landlords etc thanks in advance. --142.196.xxx.xx

An in home inspection divulges many things a group of friends and family will not think is important - he grew up a slob and has many slob friends. --76.190.xxx.xxx

What Vee said - se the home they are in before you let them in yours --68.229.xxx.xxx

--47.156.xx.xx

The LL's part is to act quickly and decisively. When there's a problem address it don't avoid it. We have sent numerous letters about condition of premises and the deterioration. We notify them that the lease is going to be terminated in 7 to 10 days if corrections aren't made. Day 11 we will be on site to make an inspection. Then we follow through with terminating the lease. This is usually followed by court action for none payment of rent. BYE BYE. --108.239.xx.xx

In home visit is a must nowadays. --149.76.xxx.x

Two common tricks is to use friends or relatives for a reference where ask before reference if they have any apartments or houses for rent. If the person does not know what you are talking about then that reference is a lie. Another common trick is to change one letter in surname where the credit check comes back no identity where tell them that alias do not qualify for rental units. Oh I lost my birth certificate where go down to government to get one where without a social insurance number then it not possible to run a credit check. --68.69.xxx.xxx

Robert ON excuse me but I'm not following your post here. I'm interested in the thought process but you lost me. Can you please explain in detail what your accomplishing. (I'm getting older and not that sharp pencil in the box any more -- in many ways) --108.239.xx.xx

Chatter-box. --24.183.xxx.xxx

I find people looking for rental units use the same tricks all the time where carefully screened them out. One with a credit score in the low four hundreds said landlords should not be allowed to run credit checks. I was in London where visited a few places that were not listed on rental application. One told me he had a problom with alcohol. A lot of newer rental housing providers are not aware of the common tricks people play. One came around to apartment building where filled out rental application where he gave a address of house by the lake. Drove by the house then in the front lawm there could easily be $60 dollars refund in beer bottles and beer cants where did not bother with a credit check. One asked over phone if I belonged to a landlords association where I replied yes then he never showed up. Another wanted all inclusive where no way. Here it is really difficult to evict for non payment of rent where one has carefully screen them out. Once 900 credit score and above the problem tenants were screened out along with problems and damages as well. In hostile enviroment rent arrears can really cause problems along with the damages done. I hope that other rental housing providers screen out the problem tenants then they for the community housing authority rental units. I have photos of completely trashed rental units. One tenant ask for a apartment below which was excellent condition where I told $900 dollars where he refused the rentlal unit he lived in was completely trashed out where was not going to have two completely trashed out rentsl units. He call me a slumlord where once slum tenants are gone then no more slum rental units. In the ad willl provide rental applications for all adults then do not have waste time with them where they never show up. They claim discrimination under human rights tribunal where told they fix the negative credit reports then reapply where they thousands in rent arrears. Housing is a not right to trash out along with cause problems in the rental complex like illegal drugs and so on. It is better leave vacant for few months then let them in. --68.69.xxx.xxx

I remember when I took apartment buildings were someone came around then told he lived before where he knew the former owner. I made a long distance call to Florida where the owner told me do not go near him. He called back a week later where I told he can pick up a rental application then suddenly he blew up over the phone then told me about small landlords and big landlords where the phone call was well worthwhile. Now that vacancy rates here are really low a lot of problem tenants can not continue to play the no rent trash out rental unit game. Before running a credit check I carefully check out all the information on the rental application where find if the place of employment is real or some made up game. I call the references asking if they have any apartments or houses for rent that screens out references. I make sure that the identity is checked if they refuse to provide a social insurance number. If can not provide birth certificate, drivers license, passport if they have one along with some bills they have then it ends right there. There are one out three odds of getting a problem tenant where over time was able to completely screen them out. What happens a rental housing providers hands out keys then suddenly friends get keys then everything goes downhill from there. --68.69.xxx.xxx

some of these posts are nothing more than word salads --108.201.xx.xx