Questions to Ask Previous Landlords
Questions for a landlord screening an applicant, covering payment history, care of the unit, honesty about the lease, and how the tenancy ended.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Can you confirm that [Tenant Name] rented from you, and what were the move-in and move-out dates?
Why ask it
Ask for the address as well. A reference who cannot produce dates or who names a different unit than the application does is either not the landlord or is thinking of a different tenant.
What was the monthly rent, and did the payment always come from them?
Why ask it
Rent that arrived every month from a parent, a partner, or a rental assistance program tells you the income you verified is not the income that actually paid, which changes what happens if that third party stops.
Were payments on time, and roughly how many times were they late?
Why ask it
Push for a number. "No real problems" covers both a single hard month and a tenant who paid on the tenth every month and treated the late fee as part of the rent.
Did you ever have to serve a pay-or-quit notice or start an eviction filing?
Why ask it
Cases withdrawn after the tenant paid often leave no trace in a court records search, so the previous landlord may be the only person who can tell you it happened.
How would you describe them as a tenant, in your own words?
Why ask it
Listen for what they lead with and what they leave out. A landlord who talks only about the tenant being pleasant, and never about rent or the condition of the unit, is usually avoiding something.
Did you get complaints from neighbors about noise, smoking, or guests?
Why ask it
Separates the landlord's own impression from what the people living next door experienced. Complaints that never reached a lease violation still predict how your other units will feel about the tenant.
When you were inside the unit during the tenancy, how was it being kept?
Why ask it
If the answer is that they never went in during three years, they cannot speak to housekeeping at all. That is worth knowing before you weigh anything else they say about the condition.
Was there damage beyond normal wear and tear when they left?
Why ask it
Ask what the damage actually was. A scuffed wall and pet urine that soaked into the subfloor both get described as damage, and the second one is a different tenant entirely.
Did you return the full deposit? If not, what were the deductions for?
Why ask it
Dollar amounts are harder to soften than adjectives. A landlord who kept most of a deposit but describes the tenant as fine is telling you two contradictory things.
Were there ever people or pets living there who were not on the lease?
Why ask it
This is the honesty test. Undisclosed occupants and pets are less about the extra person than about a tenant who decided the lease did not apply to them.
Did they ask before making changes to the unit, like painting or mounting things?
Why ask it
Tenants who ask first are usually the ones who tell you about problems first. A tenant who painted a bedroom dark and mentioned it at move-out will handle other decisions the same way.
When something broke, how did you usually hear about it?
Why ask it
A tenant who reports a slow leak the week it starts saves you a floor. One who waits until the ceiling stains costs you thousands, and no credit report will ever show you the difference.
Were they cooperative about giving access for repairs and inspections?
Why ask it
Repeated cancelled appointments cost you contractor fees and can mean the tenant did not want anyone seeing the inside of the unit.
Were there lease violations you had to address in writing?
Why ask it
The written record matters more than the memory. Ask whether the behavior stopped after the notice, because a tenant who corrects course is different from one who ignored three letters.
Did they give proper written notice when they moved out?
Why ask it
A tenant who left mid-lease or vanished without notice cost the previous landlord vacancy weeks. Ask what the lease required and what actually happened.
Was anything outstanding when they left: unpaid rent, utilities, or fees?
Why ask it
Balances that were written off rather than sent to collections will not appear on a credit check, so ask directly rather than relying on the report.
What did you have to do to the unit before you could rent it again?
Why ask it
This converts vague answers into labor and money: paint and a cleaning is normal, replacing carpet and repairing drywall in two rooms is not.
Did anything end badly between you, or come up after they moved out?
Why ask it
Also tells you how reliable the rest of the reference is. A landlord in a dispute over a deposit has reason to describe the tenant harshly, and you should weight the answers accordingly.
Would you rent to them again?
Why ask it
The single most useful answer on the call. A pause, a qualified yes, or a change of subject is the reference, and it is your cue to go back and ask what specifically would give them second thoughts.
Is there anything you would want to know if you were in my position?
Why ask it
Gives a landlord who has been guarded a way to raise something without volunteering it, and often produces the one detail no direct question reached.
Screening Tenants Effectively
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Verify the reference before you trust it
- Look the property up in county records and call the owner of record rather than the number written on the application. Friends and relatives are routinely listed as former landlords.
- Ask the current landlord as well, but weigh the answers carefully: a landlord who wants a difficult tenant to leave has reason to give a glowing reference.
- Contact at least two prior landlords. A single reference tells you about one tenancy, and patterns only appear across two or three.
- Property managers usually work from a file and will give you dates, ledger history, and notices. Small individual owners work from memory, so ask them for specifics rather than summaries.
How to run the call
- 1Open by confirming dates, rent, and address. Anything that contradicts the application is a reason to stop and go back to the applicant.
- 2Ask for counts and dollar figures instead of impressions. "How many times were they late" gets you further than "were they a good tenant."
- 3Let silence sit after the hard questions. Landlords who are reluctant to say something negative often fill the pause.
- 4Ask about behavior and payment, not about family status, disability, national origin, religion, or anything else protected under fair housing law. Screening notes are discoverable.
- 5Write down what each reference said, dated, and keep it with the file. Apply the same questions to every applicant so your process is consistent.
What should give you pause
- An applicant who cannot or will not give contact details for the landlord before the current one.
- A reference who is warm and general but cannot answer a single factual question about rent, dates, or the deposit.
- A hesitation on whether they would rent to the applicant again, especially after an otherwise positive call.
- The same theme showing up from two different landlords, even in mild terms: late payment, unauthorized occupants, or a unit left in poor condition.