Recently I received an email from a member of the public commenting on the danger of relying on a tenant reference provided by the tenant’s current landlord. 

 

In their case, the current landlord was desperate to get rid of the tenant so gave them a good reference.

 

Worse yet, the current landlord was also a relative.

 

Either of these facts should set off alarm bells.

 

A call to an earlier landlord revealed the true situation but this was not done until after the “damage was done.” And yes, it really was ugly.

 

I assured her that professional property managers know better then to rely on a reference from the current landlord but thought, why not post a reminder for experienced landlords which is also a good tip for rookies.   This is it.

 

“Some of us learn from other people’s mistakes. The rest of us have to be the other people”    Zig Ziglar