Rental References & applicant unsuccessful

Greetings all,

Hope you everyone had a great weekend.

Just a quick one. I am currently in a debate with one of my colleagues about reference checks.

My colleague believes you should call each and everyone of the references but I reckon 1 or 2 is ample? What's the consensus on this?

Also do you email or call an applicant to let them know they have been unsuccessful?

I find calling is awkward, I have always just used email. What are thoughts on that?

Thank you in advance.

 

I wouldnt hire any pm that couldnt do difficult phone calls. What happens for rental arrears or noise or complaints?

 

Hello,

My view is that you would call as many of the references that you could reasonably attain. If somebody provides three, I would call all three!

If two of the three are positive, the third should also be positive, which is again further validation about the quality of the applicant. The risk that you are trying to understand and offset is more important than 5 minutes spent on a phone conversation that you would save by skipping reference.

With respect to notification to an unsuccessful tenant - I think it depends on your process and the number of potential applicants that you may need to contact. Phone can be handy in the event that they were not a bad candidate, just that you had multiple good options. A phone call may also provide an opportunity to find another property to suit them (if they are a good candidate).

Whereas if you are dealing with 30 unsuccessful applicants, email may be more efficient. I guess this would depend on the situation.

 

I've had a number of friends ask me if I could be a rental reference over the years. Never had a call from an agent.

Those we nominated as our own references were never called either.

Makes me think many agents don't do to many checks...

 

Nobody supplies references who would say anything bad about them anyway... references these days can be more about having friends/families numbers to call to track down the whereabouts of tenants if they disappear

 

My daughter had been trying for months to get a 1 bedder, and always puts me as a reference. I have only been called once since July last year.

Dunno if they call my daughter to advise she's unsuccessful.

 

I think its really important to gage what sort of a tenant they'll be. I have actually caught a few personal references out non intentionally and realize after I've hung up the phone, 'hmm that wasn't right'.

I only find it sometimes a little awkward to get conversations going. Especially with personal references? What do you even ask? "Are they good mate?"

 

Very rarely do I call personal references, IMO it holds little value.

100pts ID > check ability to maintain the property (tenancy database check, and speak with previous Lessor/Agents - were any Notice to Remedy's issued? etc) > ability to pay the rent (employment/pay slips, bank statement, Centrelink proof of income, etc) > other bits and bobs. But the word of an anecdotal "friend" or "boss" doesn't really mean much to me...more so useful if they go AWOL or die you have someone to call and get the ball rolling to wind up the tenancy.

 

Very true! What sort of questions do you ask the former agent?

 

Asking yes no questions is meaningless. Ask probing questions. Anything you know about that might mean he has issues as a renter? Anything issues that you know of in the past when he rented?

Your supposed to be the professional at this, right?

 

I've been doing this for years, thank you very much. I was just wondering what others think is important and what questions are put forward other than the usual - are they reliable, did they pay the rent on time and all that jazz.

 

Successfully rented an apartment a few years back and left the reference fields blank. There was no way I was going to supply employer manager/director contact details. Employees don't need to know or be bothered with personal stuff. Agree with most opinions here that references are seldom called or required.

 

Contact the previous PM as only they would have the answer and not a random friendly reference.

 

I have all ways wondered what I would say to an Agent if they ever called to ask for a reference, they never have. The ones I want out, I help find some-where else, and I not going to tell the agent they are entitled lazy whinging filthy pigs..

 

Call or email. Don't just "ghost".

 

All hinges off the only 2 criteria a Lessor/Agent can vet an application on - ability to pay the rent and maintain the property. So we want to see a tenant ledger or mortgage repayment history to see what their payment behaviour is like (on time, constantly in arrears, occasional slip up, also if water bills/other have been paid etc), we also want to know how they've maintained previous properties - for anything serious, a notice to remedy breach should have been issued, and for anything major, you'd expect to see them listed on a tenancy database, but not always as some Lessor/Agents don't go that far unfortunately. If the application lists pet(s) we'd want to know how they managed the pet(s) at previous properties to see if the pets caused any problems/damage/nuisance to neighbours etc. We'd also want to know if there were prior problems re: unauthorised people living there or constant parties or carrying out work such as mechanical repairs or running a home business, all which have impacts on the wear & tear of the property. At the end of the day, as an Agent, I'm the one dealing with potential headaches so the due diligence checking is to mitigate the chance of problems occurring and also to ensure the Lessor would be covered by their insurance should it go south by way of demonstrating steps were taken to check the suitability of the applicant before renting the property to them.

 

I still can't believe from time to time I get reference requests and no privacy consent attached...nope!

 

Should references from previous property managers good enough? It’s not like finding a job where you could be a good employee but not a good tenant.

 

The ledger doesn't lie, at the very least you need a ledger of rental payments or mortgage repayments. If they have neither (there are legit circumstances) you need to find other ways to satisfy yourself on their ability to be suitable tenants. The Acts don't prescribe a way to check/vet an application, but they do specify what an application can be vetted on (to stop/limit discrimination). In that regard, it's also difficult for insurers/xCAT to come back and say the Lessor/Agent didn't do their job well enough as far as due diligence on an application as the Act doesn't specify 'how' it should be done.

 

That is the essence of the checks, to ensure that you aren't taking on a problem tenant.