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Just as title says, I need to give my old landlord as a rental reference on an application for a nice unit I'm looking at far away from my hometown. Only thing is- it turns out I had rented from an unlicensed and unscrupulous landlord (read: slumlord) without my knowledge while I was living in the unit. The apartment itself was habitable (although we now realize via the fire department that it was not up to code and had not been inspected for fire hazards) and I had minimal contact with the landlord the whole time I lived there. We had no disputes until we moved out and she began to claim exorbitant damages to ancient furnishings that were pre-existing or were the result of normal wear and tear (we had photo proof, mind you-- I know how you landlord types like to get jumpy when hearing about other landlords getting chewed out lol but we are working, intelligent, tax paying straight shooters). It was at this point I contacted the city about a suspect rental. She did not send us a legal itemized summary estimate of the damages and the amount of the deposit used for damages, refund, etc. after 3 weeks past our move out point, which in MN means she was keeping it in "bad faith" due to never sending us an invoice to the forwarding address we gave her. She is supposed to refund the deposit due to this, whether the damages were legitimate or not. We had a dog that dented in a screen on a storm door so we just let her have the $900 deposit because she was claiming we would owe her $1000 on top of the deposit to replace a frayed 8 year old carpet and a closet door that was broken when we moved in. She texted us, complete with "u" instead of 'you' and a half dozen typos, that she was expecting us to pay full retail price plus the inflated installation fee for furnishings that were damaged, partially functional, and antiquated at move in. We didn't think we would recoup our costs in court (she looked ok at move-in time, but is now visibly a substance abuser and lives rent check to rent check) so we abandoned the deposit and moved on. Some money in hand, she did not contact us again- this was very suspicious to my lawyer. She essentially took no legal precautions of her own besides having us fill out an application, such as take pictures of the unit pre-move in (which I, however, did do). I severely doubt she ever ran a criminal background check or a credit check on us, and never once furnished rent receipts even though I asked for them on 6 separate occasions. While she is technically my old landlord, she wasn't even legally allowed to operate rentals in her county and was likely avoiding paying taxes. Now I need to use this criminal as a reference?? She is now in trouble but I have no idea how much or for what as I no longer live in that apartment. What kind of explanation should I attach to my application? She would definitely give me a very bad reference. Should I just put "unlicensed landlord" in the box on my application? I don't want to get turned down for putting a convoluted explanation on it, but I don't want to get turned down for this rental from libel and slander either if they actually call her.
If the application says list previous landlords, you do just that, because that's what she WAS, a previous landlord, regardless of the apartment being illegally rented. The drama doesn't matter. Also, on applications they might list, was your deposit refunded? The answer is no even though you said she could keep it. If any questions are asked, THEN explain. Your future landlords don't want to hear your drama, that's a sure way to get denied.
If you feel the need to say anything, don't explain everything, just say the bare minimum to get the point across that you didn't leave on good terms, but do not slander her, especially if she's the only landlord you can list. You'll come across as a problem tenant. No one wants that.
Well she was technically but not legally an actual landlord, like operating a small business without a state license or tax ID while also in an unsafe structure. I feel like including her on a rental application would be like putting "I mowed lawns with my undocumented immigrant friend Steve" on a serious career application under previous employment, is all. I get what you mean however, and I have several other sterling rental references, a catalogue of bonds, and a decent credit score. I'm not very worried it will be a blemish on my reputation to use her as a reference, I was more wondering if other landlords would discredit a reference from the 40 year old woman that asks for advances on rent every month, borrows her father's car, and walks around the neighborhood barefoot in just a blanket stinking of liquor and cigarettes. Or if landlords are actual human beings and will mercilessly judge me based off a narrow view of extremely limited data
So basically don't explain that other landlords can in fact have personal problems because I'll look bad if I do, and hope they don't contact her because then she will make me look bad out of spite? How likely is a LL to consider a tenant that gets a bad reference? What if I am denied outright without any questions because of what she says? I should have just disputed and sued her and swallowed the cost
Why did you accept her back charges if she was in the wrong? I can tell simply by your wording that you seem to hold all LLs in the same view. Hopefully your new LL doesn't call. I doubt she will give you a good review. Most LLs don't call references. I rarely get calls asking about past tenants.
So basically don't explain that other landlords can in fact have personal problems because I'll look bad if I do, and hope they don't contact her because then she will make me look bad out of spite? How likely is a LL to consider a tenant that gets a bad reference? What if I am denied outright without any questions because of what she says? I should have just disputed and sued her and swallowed the cost
It is much simpler for landlords to casually dismiss any applicant who had an issue with a previous landlord - nobody wants to sort it out - so you're pretty much screwed if you rent from a problem landlord - your bad landlord's problems become your problems and you just have to to live with it.
If you feel the need to say anything, don't explain everything, just say the bare minimum to get the point across that you didn't leave on good terms, but do not slander her, especially if she's the only landlord you can list. You'll come across as a problem tenant. No one wants that.
As a landlord myself, I agree. Reiterate whatever positive points you'd like the prospective landlord to consider (e.g., you always paid the rent on time, have a stable job with good income, etc.)
To reply to both posts, NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR DRAMA. Was she your landlord? Yes. Did you rent an apartment from her by paying her a dollar amount on a regular basis? Yes. It does not matter if she illegally rented the dwelling, she is still a landlord, no matter what you may think. If you rented a place from Immigrant Steve that he didn't own, HE'S STILL YOUR LANDLORD, no matter the circumstances.
And to comment to you suing her, that would have been a permanent record that future landlords would find out faster than using her as a reference. Landlords see you suing other landlords? (Not a landlord here) but most would toss tge application if there's one sitting on their desk who hasn't sued landlords.
I have 11 rentals, and have never had a bad tenant that caused damages say I am a good landlord. No one is happy that they are charged for damages. All of them want to argue that the dam age the dog did was just digging holes in the yard, or chewing the edge of only a few cabinets, or that the cat only peed in one room. And I'm a bad landlord for ripping them off by charging for it.
Amazingly the renters that followed their contract and didn't damage the property would say I'm a GREAT landlord.
So if I had someone like the OP that is seeming to jump thru hoops to say the landlord was "unlicensed" (I don't know any requirements that LL are supposed to BE licensed), or that they took money because they were greedy, they would not be able to rent from me.
I'd bet the ex LL would have a completely different story to tell than the OP's.
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