If you are in the landlording business long enough, you will eventually be asked to provide a referral for a previous tenant. Referrals are a great tenant screening tool that should be in every landlord’s rental standards toolbox. On the surface, providing tenant referrals may seem simple enough, but you should exercise some caution when doing so. What is the best way to respond when asked for tenant referrals?
Referral Requests Come In All Sizes
We receive many different types of tenant referral requests. Some are just a quick phone call. Some want to have a long conversation. Others will fax or e-mail a long form they want us to fill out. Every landlord seems to have a different way of asking for tenant referrals.
But no matter how different landlords ask, we believe in keeping things simple and to the point. Why? Landlords have to remember that we do live in a somewhat litigious society. The tenant referral we give could potentially make or break someone’s application for housing. If someone feels they were wrongly denied housing, you could easily be brought into that conflict.
Keep Referrals Short And Consistent
With that in mind, it is best to keep your referrals short, succinct and consistent. There is no need to have a long, drawn out conversation. Nor is there a need to go into too much detail. There is however a need to keep things consistent and focused.
When a landlord calls you asking for a referral, We believe the best strategy is to use one of the following phrases. “Yes, I would rent to that tenant again,” or “No, I would not rent to that tenant again.” After all, what more needs to be said.
If you get a fax or e-mail referral form (Yes some landlords still use a fax because it is more difficult to falsify.), examine the questions it is asking you. Are they related to a tenant’s ability to pay, stay and respect the property? Are they asking only about rental payments and damages caused? If so, go ahead and answer them. If not, be careful as you might be treading into ambiguous territory.
Focus Tenant Referrals On What Matters
The key is to remember to keep things focused on the tenant’s ability to pay, stay and respect property. Going beyond that leads to trouble and becomes inconsistent.
How do you handle tenant referral requests? Please share with a comment.
Kevin Perk is the founder and publisher of Smarterlandlording.com. He is the author of Advice From Experience To New Real Estate Investors. Contact Kevin here.
