It’s not just what you know, it’s who you know.

Very few landlords contact previous landlords of a prospective tenant to get references. While I think that is a more than a bit foolhardy, I know some landlords will just say nice things to get them out of their property, especially if it is not true. I was reminded of this recently while doing one of our background checks on a prospective tenant. The landlord was someone I knew, so for his protection, let’s call him ‘M’. The call went something like this:

“Hi M, how you doing? It’s Jackie here, I’m ringing because (tenant) has applied to rent a property from me. He’s a tenant of yours right now?”

“Oh hey Jackie, how’s it going? I thought (tenant) was looking around. He’s asked me for another place in my properties, but I’ve refused. He’s really grotty, our housekeeping team refuses to go into that apartment. He’s late with his rent and needs to be reminded, and he’s never set up an AP, although we’ve asked him to. I wouldn’t recommend him at all.” M spurted.

“Really, that’s a pity. Thanks for being so honest with me” I say.

“No worries. If you were anyone else, I’d give you the ‘yeah, their fine’ spiel, but because I know you… I wouldn’t do that to you”.

So, it pays to be well connected, you’ll get more honesty from other landlords. I’d like to say this was the first time I ever encountered such a thing, but it happens all the time. If you are a landlord, the best protection against bad tenants is to be well connected and do background checks.

To develop connections with other landlords, join a property investors association like Wellington Property Investors' Association http://www.wnpia.co.nz. If you don't know what background checks to do, research it on http://www.dbh.govt.nz or get property management from a company like Rental Results http://www.rentalresults.co.nz - our tenant selection is so good, we guarantee it.