References: What to say and how to say it

My former tenants frequently use me as a reference when they switch apartments. I think it is because I am both a landlord and a real estate broker; they think I can talk the talk.

Well I can, but a lot of the landlords and agents who call me can’t.

Here are the two worst types of reference check calls I get:

1.The caller doesn’t know who he/she are talking to:

I had an agent call me about a tenant who was moving out of my unit.
He: Was the room was clean when she left?
ME: she hasn’t left yet.
HE: Was there any damage after she moved out?
ME: She hasn’t moved out, so I don’t know.
After the second time, he got it that I could not speak about after the tenant moved out because the tenant was still there. He then asked questions that I could answer about paying on time and taking care of things.

2. The caller “leads the witness”:
I frequently get calls that go something like this:
HE: Sally Smith was a great tenant, right?
ME: good enough.
HE: She always paid on time.
ME: Pretty much.
HE: Any problems?
ME: What kind of problems?
HE: She was quiet, right?
ME: yes. HE: She left everything in good order.
ME: good enough.

When this happens (and it has a number of times), I get that sinking feeling that this mediocre tenant just got a new apartment. Rental agents do it, and so do landlords. The caller had already decided to take this tenant and wasn’t listening. He had plenty of room to ask for details; he avoided doing so. If the tenant was not a bad tenant, I don’t press the issue. If the tenant was a problem, I would have to force the information on him.

So, what should a landlord be asking and who should the landlord ask?

First, what.

You want information on consistency.
How long did the tenant stay in previous apartments and previous jobs? Was there a lease, did he/she move out before the lease was up? Is the tenant steadily employed? Punctual and reliable at work?

You want information about responsibility.
Did the tenant report problems in the apartment? Did the tenant over-report problems in the apartment? Does the prospective tenant take initiative at work? Is the tenant a good problem solver?

The financial stuff.
Of course, a landlord needs to find out that the tenant is employed at a level that supports the rent. You need to know the job is not about to end. You want to know that rent has been paid on time at his or her previous apartments.

Who you ask will have a bearing on whether you get useful answers:
Talk to previous landlords. The current landlord has an incentive to invite a troublesome tenant to move into your apartment.

Talk to supervisors at work, not just the human resource department. You will get at better idea of character that way.

One more thing: Be consistent. You must ask the same questions about any tenant or risk being charged with discriminatory behavior towards someone in a protected class. Write a script for yourself. Keep a record.

What does your script look like? You can do better than “He was a great tenant, right?”

Article originally posted by Rona Fischman in www.boston.com