Screening within Buidium has a secotion for emailing former landlords for references. I don't ask much (Would you rent again? Did they get deposit back? Any lawsuits? Simple stuff.)

So now twice this year, a Prospect has put their own email in place of the former landlord. And returned the questionairre as the old LL.

First one was easy - she was stupid and just used her same email for everything, including both old Landlords. Not too hard to spot.

This one: Husband returns app, wife not yet. I go to send her a reminder this morning and notice her email - which is over in Tenant Turner from her appointment, not anywhere else - is the same email as his former LL. Pure coincidence I noticed and if I was doing multiple apps, I easily could have missed that.

Excellent catch.

I caught someone once, who I recognized as being good with technology and documents, fake their new employer letter of acceptance.

I called the company and asked for the HR person who they named on the letter. No such person existed. There were some dates and signatures missing as well.

My number is not tied to the tax rolls via public check.

What do you do about a property that was put into a trust? How about if it is owned by a corporation but managed by a different group?

I am not searching tax assessment rolls across the entire country for a potential owner for a single prospect!! NC is in the top 5 migration states (people moving here) and they are coming en masse from blue states. WAY too much work for very little return.

No, they get a chance to fill out a form - they lie on that form and I'm done.

Just to dot my i's and cross my t's, I ran the background check on just one of the three family members - he has a 2021 suit for possession on his record - so there you go :) A lie AND an eviction.

I just had a LL call for reference. I'm selling, so my tenant is looking. She has always paid on time, but has SO MUCH STUFF that it borders on hoarding. Supposedly she has three different businesses and it's all inventory.

New LL asked me, "Does she keep the house clean?" I hedged, because she has so much stuff that it's hard to get into some of the bedrooms. That said, it's clean stuff, and there will be NO wear and tear when she moves out!

So I responded by saying, "Do you do two-minute in-home inspections?" She'd heard of them, but clearly was too timid to do them. I extolled the virtues of them, and after chatting some more she asked again, "So she takes good care of the place?"

Again: "Everyone has a different standard of what they'll allow. I really recommend you do a two-minute in-home visit."

WMH, so far you currently live in a landlord friendly state. Makes ALL the difference in the world.

If you are in an ultra tenant friendly state, you simply MUST put in the time and effort such as researching tax rolls, etc. hunting down previous (not current) landlord's address and phone number.

That being said, in ultra tenant friendly states, so many of the applicants are absolutely horrendous, so the amount of research you have to do on the very rare occurring unicorn that speaks Norwegian is minimal.

Robin, I would have said, yes the house has clean every time I have been there. She stores inventory for her business there in the house, so there is a lot of stuff. Put a little emphasis on "a lot".

I recently checked a LL reference. The applicant had attached proof of rent that wasn't quite current but had his LL's name on it. I called the LL and asked one question--would you rent to him again? The LL then hesitated and responded by asking me if the applicant was with me now and I answered no. He then told me that he wouldn't rent to him again and I told him that I needed no further details. I had my answer when he hesitated and could have ended the call right there.

Maple, in what way is NC a LL-friendly state? Just curious what the definitions are.

I find it very neutral.