What kind of references do I need for apartment hunting in bay area? (apartments)

[jupiler]

Greetings forum. I plan to move to SF in the next few months. I've been reading many informative topics here - thanks everyone. Don't be surprised to see more questions from me

Where I currently live, I haven't been required to provide references (other than the name and phone # of a person). I've been reading about how competitive apartments are in SF, and I want to be prepared when the time comes to look for one. So, I'm wondering what kind of reference landlords are looking for in SF. Is it reference from previous landlords about my tenancy, references about my character, employer reference, or all of the above? And, I presume I would bring a printed copy to give to the landlord at open house time?

[uptown_urbanist]

When we recently went the apartment rental process they called our previous landlords and (a) confirmed that we had lived there, (b) there were no noise or other complaints, and (c) they would rent to us again. We also had to provide proof of income, which I suppose is a reference of sorts (although I don't think they actually called the HR department to verify. We did provide paperwork -- in this case letter of employment verification from work). Bring a copy of your credit report with you to the showing, bring employment letter or similar if you have it, and have all the details ready to fill out an application, as they'll likely want you to fill out their own form. Most places seem to want the contact information for the previous 2-3 places you've rented. A couple of applications also wanted the contact information for previous places of employment, so have that handy just in case.