Most landlords treat the reference check like a formality. You call one number, someone says “yeah, great tenant,” and you move on. Box checked. Lease signed.
That five-minute phone call has cost Memphis landlords thousands of dollars. We’ve seen it happen more times than we can count across the 1,200 properties we manage here.
If you’re a rental property owner trying to fill a vacancy without ending up with an eviction, unauthorized occupants, or a repair bill that wipes out six months of cash flow, this is worth reading carefully. We’re going to break down what a real reference check looks like, what red flags actually sound like on a live call, and why the mistakes most landlords make are almost always avoidable.
In This Guide
A Written Reference Letter Is Basically Useless
Let’s get this out of the way first. A printed reference letter proves nothing. Anyone can write one, format it on letterhead, and hand it to you with a smile.
We worked with an owner who accepted a written letter from a previous landlord instead of making a live call. Within four months, there were noise complaints from neighbors and an unauthorized occupant living in the unit. Getting the property back to rentable condition after early termination cost over $2,100. The letter had called the tenant “responsible and respectful.”
“Getting the property back to rentable condition after early termination cost over $2,100.”
You cannot ask a letter follow-up questions. You cannot hear hesitation in a letter’s voice. A live call is non-negotiable.
The Most Revealing Reference Is Usually Not the Most Recent One
Here’s a take that goes against what most landlord forums suggest: a glowing reference from one landlord is often worse than no reference at all.
Your applicant’s current landlord has every incentive to make that tenant sound like a dream. If they’re quietly trying to remove a difficult renter from their property, a positive, eager, short phone call is exactly how they move that process along. We flagged exactly this situation for one owner. The reference call was oddly upbeat and wrapped up in under three minutes. The owner overrode our concern and signed the lease. That tenant was evicted eight months later after repeated lease violations.
The landlord from two tenancies ago, on the other hand, has no stake in where the tenant ends up next. They’ll give you honest answers because there’s nothing in it for them to lie. Get at least two verifiable landlord references, and make sure one of them goes back further than the most recent tenancy.
How Many References Is Actually Enough
The minimum that tells you anything useful is two verifiable landlord references. Three is better. Prior landlords will always outrank personal contacts for one simple reason: a friend or family member will never give a negative answer. Asking for personal character references also introduces fair housing risk if you apply that standard inconsistently across applicants.
What you’re looking for from verifiable landlord contacts:
- Prior landlord, not just personal contacts — a prior landlord has direct, documented experience with the tenant in a rental setting
- At least 12 months of rental history — less than that with a single reference is a yellow flag, especially in a market like Memphis where tenant turnover runs high in areas like Midtown, Whitehaven, and Cordova
- References from more than one rental period — applicants who have had three or four landlords in five years need multi-reference verification, not just a call to the most recent one
The Questions Most Landlords Forget to Ask
“Was she a good tenant?” is not a screening question. It’s an invitation to say “yes” and hang up.
We train our team to go specific. Hayden, who handles leasing on our end, runs through a structured list on every reference call. Vague open-ended questions produce vague, useless answers. Specific questions produce facts.
Here’s what a real reference call covers:
- Did they pay rent on time every month? Not “usually” — every month.
- Did they give proper written notice before vacating? Lease compliance matters, not just rent payment.
- Were there any lease violations during the tenancy? Unauthorized pets, unauthorized occupants, noise complaints — ask directly.
- Did anyone else live in the unit who wasn’t on the lease? This is one of the few places you’ll get a straight answer on unauthorized occupants before move-in.
- Would you rent to them again? A hesitation before “yes” tells you more than the yes itself.
- What was the condition of the property at move-out? Repair costs follow tenants. Find out before you’re the next landlord absorbing them.
Follow Up Fast — Landlords Go Cold Quickly
Once an applicant submits a reference’s contact information, you have roughly 72 hours before things get harder. Landlords get busy. They get cautious. The more time that passes, the more guarded and less candid they become on a call.
Move the same day if you can. And if a reference number goes to voicemail repeatedly with no callback, that silence tells you something too.
Section 8 Applicants Still Need Reference Checks
We manage Section 8 properties across Memphis and hear this assumption regularly: a housing voucher means the tenant has been vetted.
It does not.
HCV approval verifies income eligibility and citizenship status, but PHAs may also screen for prior rental history or conduct under their own admission policies—it does not guarantee a clean behavioral track record. Unauthorized occupants, pet policy violations, lease compliance problems — none of that is filtered out by voucher approval. Every HCV applicant we process gets the same reference check as any other. Behavior in past rental units doesn’t change because a voucher is in the picture.
Watch Out for These Specific Red Flags
Some red flags are obvious. Others are easy to miss on a quick call. Here’s what to listen for:
- Vague, short answers with no specifics: “She was fine” or “He was okay” without any detail often means the landlord is being careful about what they say
- Refusal to be contacted at all: An applicant who can’t provide reachable prior landlords is not a green light applicant
- Overly glowing, oddly quick calls: Enthusiasm that feels rehearsed or rushed is worth noting
- Late payment history that gets minimized: “Just a couple of times” on a $1,100/month unit translates to real money and a real pattern — we worked with one owner who inherited a tenant with two late payments in the prior 12 months that were never disclosed, and that exact pattern repeated within six months
- Family member posing as a landlord: We caught one case in Cordova where the only reference provided turned out to be a relative. The fraud wasn’t discovered until after move-in. The tenant caused $1,800 in carpet and door damage and broke the lease at month five
What a Bad Placement Actually Costs You
The numbers are worth spelling out. Our average rental rate across the properties we manage here is $1,100 a month. A bad tenant who triggers an eviction means three to four months without rent collected during the process — that’s $3,300 to $4,400 in lost income alone, before repairs.
Add in property damage ($1,200 to $3,500 for a typical problem tenant in a single-family home), plus our leasing fee of 50% of the first month’s rent to place the next qualified tenant. You’re easily looking at $5,000 or more in total exposure from one bad placement.
Front-end screening, including a thorough reference check, costs you a few hours. We track all applicant and reference documentation through Propertyware so nothing falls through the cracks — but even owners managing their own properties can build this process with a little discipline.
Skipping references to fill a unit faster is almost never worth what it costs on the back end.
If This Feels Like a Lot to Manage Solo, You’re Not Alone
Across our 400 clients and 15 years working in this market, the landlords who struggle most with bad placements are almost always the ones rushing to fill vacancies. The pressure is real, especially in a city where around 55% of households are renters and units can turn fast.
A thorough reference process doesn’t have to be complicated. But it does have to be consistent.
If vetting applicants and chasing references feels like more than you want to take on yourself, we’re open to a conversation about what that kind of support looks like. Contact us to talk through what that looks like for your properties.
FAQ
What is the most important reference to get from a rental applicant?
Prior landlords are far more useful than personal contacts. A landlord from two tenancies ago, someone with no stake in where the tenant ends up next, will almost always give you the most honest picture of how that applicant actually behaved in a rental unit.
Can I rely on a written reference letter from a previous landlord?
A written letter has no screening value on its own. You can’t ask follow-up questions, and a letter can be fabricated in minutes. Always call the reference directly and ask specific questions about payment history, lease violations, and property condition at move-out.
Do Section 8 voucher holders still need landlord reference checks?
Yes. A housing voucher confirms income eligibility, not rental behavior. Past lease violations, unauthorized occupants, and property damage don’t show up in HCV approval. Every HCV applicant should go through the same reference verification as any other applicant.
How many landlord references should I require from an applicant?
Two verifiable prior landlord references is a reasonable floor. If an applicant has had multiple landlords in the past five years, get references from more than just the most recent one. Relying on a single contact misses too much of the behavioral pattern.
What should I do if an applicant can’t provide reachable prior landlord contacts?
Treat it as a significant red flag. An applicant who cannot connect you with a verifiable prior landlord is asking you to take a large risk with very little information. In most cases, that’s not a gap worth overlooking to fill a vacancy faster.
How quickly should I follow up on references after an applicant submits contact information?
Within 72 hours is a reasonable target. Landlords become harder to reach and less candid the more time passes. Move quickly, ask specific questions, and document what you hear — especially anything vague, rushed, or overly positive. Before you get to references, make sure your applicants have reviewed our Rental Requirements so everyone is working from the same baseline expectations.