Over the years that you own rental properties in Las Vegas, or elsewhere in Nevada, you may receive a rental application from someone that has what look like fake landlord references on it.
Fake landlord references are getting harder to deal with for landlords because it’s easy for people in 2019 to use VOIP and other online tools to create references that do not exist.
If you think you may have dealt with fake landlord references in the past, this article will provide you with tips on how to deal with them.
Dig Deeper into Those References
The first thing to do when you are investigating potentially fake landlord references is to “dig deeper” into those references by doing the following:
- Research their contact information – You can use online tools to do a reverse lookup of their phone number and address to confirm if that the contact information does belong to the landlord reference.
- Check social media accounts – Another important thing you should do is use social media to look at a landlord references picture. If the potential landlord is in one or more of the same pictures as the person who is applying for your rental the chances are good that they are really friends or family members.
Contact the Landlord Reference and Act Like A Renter
After doing some online research following the points in tip #1, if you’re still not convinced that the landlord references are authentic, you should call them and act like a renter. Why? If they have been coached to expect a rental reference call, they most likely will not be prepared to speak with a renter ad will be thrown off guard by your call.
If you don’t want to call the landlord reference using the tips above, you can always call them as you would any other normal landlord reference but during your call you should ask poignant questions like: when did they move out, how much was their rent, did they pay on time or did they cause problems for other tenants?
Poignant questions will also throw a fake reference off guard and expose them so it’s always a good idea to ask a landlord reference direct questions if you are in doubt about the reference.