How to check rental history and contact previous landlords

Most landlords know they should verify a tenant’s rental history. Far fewer actually do it well.

If you’ve ever approved someone on a clean credit report and regretted it three months later, you already know what we’re talking about. A credit score tells you whether someone pays their credit card bills. It tells you almost nothing about whether they trashed the last unit they lived in, had a rotating cast of unauthorized occupants, or got quietly asked to leave to avoid a formal eviction. That’s why the full tenant screening picture matters before you sign anything. And the rental history check is arguably the most important piece of that picture.

This post is for landlords and investors who want to actually do this right. Not just run a database search and call it a day.

In This Guide

Why Rental History Checks Get Skipped (or Done Badly)

It takes time. That’s basically the whole reason.

Verifying rental history the right way, including making direct contact with previous landlords, takes an average of 3 to 5 business days when done thoroughly. In a fast-moving market like Salt Lake City, where applicants are sometimes juggling three or four applications at once in areas like Sugar House and downtown, landlords feel pressure to decide quickly or lose a prospect.

So they skip the call. They accept a reference letter. They run the AppFolio report, see a clean pull, and move on.

We get it. But that shortcut is exactly how problem tenants slip through.

What a Database Search Actually Shows You (and What It Misses)

We use AppFolio to pull screening data on every applicant. It’s fast, accurate, and covers a lot of ground. Rental history data comes back within minutes.

But here’s the catch. Eviction records only exist in a database when a landlord actually filed a court case. If a previous landlord let a tenant walk, accepted a cash-for-keys deal, or just didn’t want to deal with the paperwork, that eviction never gets recorded. The tenant’s history looks clean. And you’d never know unless you picked up the phone.

We’ve talked to plenty of landlords who treat a database search as the finish line. It’s really just the starting point.

Why Calling the Previous Landlord Beats the Credit Report

Here’s a take that might surprise some people. A landlord call is often more useful than a full credit report.

Credit scores screen for financial risk. Landlord calls screen for behavioral risk. A tenant with a 680 score and a previous landlord who says “I wouldn’t rent to them again” is a worse bet than a 620 with a landlord who says they paid early and left the unit spotless. The number tells you one thing. The person who lived with the consequences tells you another.

We worked with one owner who approved a tenant based on a clean credit report alone. Skipped the landlord call entirely. That previous landlord, had they been contacted, would have shared two noise complaints and a lease violation for unauthorized occupants. The tenant caused $2,800 in damage before moving out. A single phone call would have changed that outcome.

One missed eviction in a tenant’s history can cost a Salt Lake City landlord $4,000 to $6,000 in lost rent, property damage, and turnover once everything is tallied. Evictions under Utah Code Title 78B take 30 to 45 days to resolve and run $1,500 to $3,500 in legal and court costs alone. Screening upfront is cheaper by a wide margin.

$4,000 to $6,000
cost to a Salt Lake City landlord from one missed eviction

“One missed eviction in a tenant’s history can cost a Salt Lake City landlord $4,000 to $6,000 in lost rent, property damage, and turnover once everything is tallied.”

How to Actually Contact a Previous Landlord

Call, don’t email. Email gives people time to be vague. A phone conversation is harder to dodge and almost always produces more honest information.

When you reach the previous landlord, ask specific questions. Ask if they would rent to this person again. Ask whether the tenant gave proper notice before leaving. Ask if there were any lease violations, complaints from neighbors, or damage beyond normal wear. Ask how rent payments were handled. If they hesitate on any of those, that hesitation is itself an answer.

One thing worth knowing about Salt Lake County specifically: there’s been significant in-migration from California, Nevada, and the Pacific Northwest over the past five years. That means you may be calling a landlord in Portland or Sacramento who operated under very different landlord-tenant norms. Some will be candid. Some won’t. Direct, specific questions get better answers than open-ended ones.

Also, many individual landlords in Utah kept informal records or used verbal leases. Don’t be surprised if the person you’re calling is working from memory. That’s normal. Still worth the call.

The Reference Fraud Problem Nobody Talks About Enough

Here’s something that catches landlords off guard. The “landlord” listed on an application is not always an actual landlord.

Tanya, who handles some of the more complex situations on our team, once flagged an applicant whose listed landlord phone number turned out to be the applicant’s own cell phone. It’s a real tactic. Applicants in competitive markets sometimes list a friend, a family member, or their own number, knowing that most landlords won’t cross-reference it.

The fix is simple. Before calling, look up the property address the applicant listed in the county assessor’s records. Confirm who actually owns it. Then call the number you find on record, not the one the applicant wrote down. If the numbers match, great. If they don’t, you just caught a fraud attempt before it cost you anything.

We’ve also seen owners accept written reference letters instead of making a live call. One owner we worked with took a glowing letter at face value. The previous landlord, when contacted later, admitted they wrote it specifically to get the tenant out of their unit. The letter was a send-off, not a recommendation.

The Current vs. Prior Landlord Problem

Most landlords call whoever is listed first on the application. That’s usually the current landlord.

The problem is that the current landlord has a financial reason to give a good reference. They want the tenant to leave and get approved somewhere else. The most reliable information tends to come from the landlord before the current one, because they have nothing to gain from being polite.

Smart screening always includes a call to at least one prior landlord, not just the most recent one. If the application only lists one landlord, ask the applicant directly for the contact before that one. If they can’t or won’t provide it, that’s worth noting.

What Thorough Rental History Verification Looks Like in Practice

Our leasing agent Andres walks every application through a structured verification process. That means AppFolio pulls first, then manual landlord contact, then cross-referencing contact numbers against public property records. It takes longer than a quick form review. It’s also why the owners we work with don’t spend their weekends dealing with eviction attorneys.

Tenants who pass a verified multi-point screening process, including direct landlord contact, are statistically 40% less likely to be evicted than those screened on application data alone. Over ten years of managing properties in this market, we’ve built up enough applicant history to recognize patterns that a first-time landlord would have no way to spot.

Our current vacancy rate sits at 8.66%, and part of that comes from placing tenants who actually stay. Good screening doesn’t just protect against bad tenants. It reduces turnover, which is its own expense.

By the way, Utah law requires landlords to keep tenant screening records, including rental history documentation, for at least three years. If you’re doing this on your own, make sure you’re storing that paperwork. It matters if a dispute ever surfaces later.

A Few Practical Things to Know Before You Start

You need written authorization from an applicant before pulling their rental history through a third-party screening tool. That’s both federal FCRA and Utah state requirement. AppFolio handles this in the application flow, but if you’re screening manually, get the signed authorization before you pull anything.

If a turnover does happen despite your best screening, our cleaning partners at Xtreme Cleaning Pros and The Breezy Fresh Cleaning handle post-vacancy work quickly so units don’t sit empty longer than they have to. Turnover speed matters, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of skipping the screening step on the next applicant.

And if you’re managing your own properties and starting to feel like the screening process alone is a part-time job, well, it kind of is. Nick and Tanya started Envy after managing their own rental portfolio and realizing how much there was to track properly. The whole point was to manage other people’s properties the same way they managed their own. That means no shortcuts on screening.

If rental history verification feels harder than it should, we’re open to a conversation.

FAQ

How long does rental history verification take?

Done properly, including direct phone contact with previous landlords, the process takes 3 to 5 business days. Database searches return faster, but they don’t replace the landlord call, especially for applicants with rental histories in other states.

Do I need written permission from a tenant before checking their rental history?

Yes. Federal FCRA rules, which Utah mirrors, require written authorization from the applicant before you pull their rental history through a third-party screening tool. Make sure you have a signed application with a clear screening consent section before running anything.

What questions should I ask a previous landlord?

Ask whether they would rent to the applicant again, whether the tenant gave proper notice, whether there were any lease violations or neighbor complaints, and whether the unit was returned in good condition. Specific questions get specific answers. Vague questions get vague answers.

Can I just accept a reference letter from an applicant instead of calling?

You can, but we’d strongly advise against it. Reference letters can’t be questioned, followed up on, or verified for authenticity. We’ve seen letters written specifically to help a landlord get rid of a tenant. A live phone call is the only way to ask follow-up questions and read the tone of the response.

What if the previous landlord listed doesn’t match the property owner on record?

That’s a significant red flag. Cross-reference every landlord contact number against the county assessor’s record for the listed property address. If the number doesn’t match who actually owns the property, don’t proceed until you can confirm who you’re actually speaking with.

How long do I need to keep tenant screening records in Utah?

Utah law requires landlords to retain tenant screening documentation, including rental history records, for a minimum of three years. If an applicant disputes a denial or a legal issue surfaces later, that paperwork is what protects you.

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