Faking real estate references..?

[gtarman]

Hey guys...just wondering if anybody knows how thoroughly real estate agents check rental references?

I personally have never been anything less than a great tenant, but to keep it brief, I've been living in a sharehouse, and our real estate agents kinda hate the house as a whole (due to other people coming and going semi-regularly, some who've disrespected the place in the past).

When it all comes down to it, my real estate agents are not particularly nice or understanding people, and I'm almost positive that they would not provide me with a good reference, just by association.

So I'm pretty sure I'll have to fake the references...

I'm just wondering if real estate agents have access to government information or anything that could tell them where I've lived (like Residential Tenancies Authority records here in QLD) and thus make it futile to even try.

Any info appreciated. Thanks guys (and gals)

Edited September 3, 2012 by gtarman

[myco]

I don't think they would be looking at any sites trying to find out where you've previously lived

I would say your best bet would be to try get someone as a garauntour or watever the fuck they call it

I had to get my mum to do this for me once as I had lived in previous houses but under similar circumstances the other tenants who lived there didn't make the greatest impression so I didn't bother trying to get references like that

I just got my mum to sign as a garauntour like i say and that was it

easy as and that gave me the oportunity to start fresh on my own and make a good reference for myself

[gtarman]

Thanks for the tip mate...unfortunately that's not an option for me though.

[myco]

I don't think it would actually matter if it's a parent or relative not if that's wat your saying

you may be able to get someone Else to be able to do it

maybe ask at the real estate wat the deal is with a garauntour and you might be able find someone who could sign for you

[Psylo]

I'm just wondering if real estate agents have access to government information or anything that could tell them where I've lived (like Residential Tenancies Authority records here in QLD) and thus make it futile to even try.

 

Your details may be listed on any number of databases, although more likely if you have specifically been a bad tenant only, which it sounds like you haven't been.

http://www.ntd.net.au/index.php

http://www.tica.com.au/

If you think it's likely, as your agent. Some tips on souorcing this information here:

http://www.privacy.gov.au/component/content/article/945

[qualia]

i was going to suggest contacting the tenant union but then i realised the qld government sacked the public service,

you could still try though

http://tuq.org.au/wp/?page_id=5

[goneski]

TICA is the considered the standard for checking on potential tenants in Australia. If you're on TICA, you're kinda screwed.

As far as faking rental references -- I've found a lot of the time ,the agent doesn't even check references if the rest of your application looks good (pay slips, rental receipts, etc).

[incognito]

Put me down as a private landlord, I'll make u sound like an angel

[ballzac]

I don't see the point in faking a reference. If you're hoping on them not contacting the agent, why not just put down the real details? In the event that they do call, at least you've got a chance, whereas if they find out your reference is fake you will have no chance. The worst possible reference you could get from your agent is probably better than them wondering if you're a prison escapee or something, lol. Are you still living there? You might get lucky and if they dislike you enough they might give you a glowing reference to get rid of you.

[Jox]

I have had a run in the past with a real estate agent/ landlord, they would not make necessary repairs to the house we were in, & we argued for months, more people got involved & they finally fixed the problems. When we moved out I ask for a reference, & she gave me a very rude & nasty one, stating her opinion about me as a person.

I went straight back in to her office & told her to get over her shit & wright me a reference about my rental history & not her opinion of me as a person.

She apologized & wrote me a new one.

If you are up to date with your rent & you have keep the house in a good condition (get your bond back), then there opinion of you as a person has nothing to do with it.

[domide]

I was faced with a similar issue recently when I was trying to find a new place to live. Previously, I had been living in a sharehouse and I wasn't listed as a leaser or a sub-leaser. Basically, the real estate had no idea I was living on the property. I still ended up using this sharehouse real estate as a reference and still managed to secure a place after a few weeks of searching. Though, I'm 99% sure these new real estate agents didn't check any of my references.

I did get my applications knocked back a few times and to get around this I figured I could pretend I'd been overseas and use an earlier real estate agent reference. This might not be a possibility for you if you've been living in that house for years and years. You could attach a note to the application to explain why you might not receive an entirely positive reference for your current real estate. It also might be an idea to call your real estate and ask what sort of reference they would give you - maybe it won't be as bad as you imagine.

At the end of the day, its more important to get as many applications in as possible to improve your chances. Join one of the larger realestate websites, go to open house inspections and start pumping out those applications. Don't bother with LJ Hooker if you're in a hurry - they charge $100 deposit for application submission.

[qualia]

a real estate agent once told me the best time to look for a place is over the christmas/new year holiday period, basically because everyone was on holidays/with family etc and no one was around to look for houses.

[PositiveHAL]

I have had a run in the past with a real estate agent/ landlord, they would not make necessary repairs to the house we were in, & we argued for months, more people got involved & they finally fixed the problems. When we moved out I ask for a reference, & she gave me a very rude & nasty one, stating her opinion about me as a person.

I went straight back in to her office & told her to get over her shit & wright me a reference about my rental history & not her opinion of me as a person.

She apologized & wrote me a new one.

If you are up to date with your rent & you have keep the house in a good condition (get your bond back), then there opinion of you as a person has nothing to do with it.

 

sounds like a defamation case to me

[Jox]

@NegativeDave, I think she realize she went to far when I went back in to her office, hence the apology & the re-written reference.

I had complied to our lease & was always on top of my rent, she just didn't like me after I stood up for my rights.

Good luck gtarman, were are you planning on moving to?

[santiago]

you can find out your reference record via freedom of information act, when you ask for it more than likely your property manager and if not even worse the secretary will snootelytell you its confidential...but by law it is not, doing this you run the risk however of your record being altered by a revenge addled power hungry real estate person, its a field where the worst of human nature can happen....you CAN get your record however and if you have the guts you can always drop the R bomb, over here in WA its called REIWA, as soon as you drop the R bomb they will bend over backwards quickly to help you but you have the double edge sword of that sad human nature conundrum of real estate agent long term record backstabbing.

dont even get me started.............i LOATH all real estate employees, they are scum of the scum but they think they are the caviar or the caviar, if you are reading this and in the real estate game....I HATE YOU.

yes you can fake them, just get a friend to take the call and pretend they were a private landlord who rented to you for 5 years and get them to fake you a good reference ie no pets, neat and tidy, pays rent on time and all the rest...dont be too good though, just enough to fool them which aint hard believe you me.

[ballzac]

Lol.

I don't even know what they're for most of the time. There's no way I'd let a real estate agent rent out a house I own. They're no better to owners than they are to tenants. The house we're living in is mostly in really good condition, so it's the sort of place that the owners probably want to actually look after, unlike some of the slummy places I've lived in that they don't want to put any money into whatsoever. When we moved in, there were only two things wrong, a broken solar hot water panel, and a broken shelf in one of the bedrooms. They said they'd fix the panel, and we signed the lease, and the shelf we didn't realise until after we moved in. Well a couple of years later and the panel is still broken, which costs us money because it's hybrid gas/solar, so any heating that isn't done by the solar panel is done by the gas. Before our first inspection, my girlfriend filled out a maintenance request form about the shelf, and the landlord told us that they don't bother with the formalities, so he didn't take the form and assured her that he'd get it fixed. I was home for the next inspection, and I had another form filled out and insisted he take it. Still nothing was done. My girlfriend contacted him to ask about it and he said he'd get it sorted. For over a year we were not using the shelf, because it was something that would be easily fixed and we didn't want to make it worse, but eventually we decided to just use it anyway, and now of course it's getting worse and worse, which we'll probably get blamed for. It's now been almost 2 years. I want to give the landlord a piece of my mind, but my girlfriend is concerned about making waves and being blacklisted or something.

About six months ago the laundry door started rotting and we let them know about it, twice. That too is getting worse, and again, it's something that probably could have been easily fixed and something done to prevent it getting worse, but pretty soon the whole door will probably need to be replaced. I'm sure if the landord knew about it, they would probably want to get stuff like this seen to, but the estate agents couldn't care less.

Most other places I've lived in, I have complained about stuff like this and threatened them with the tenant's union. I've even refused to pay rent increases when they have not honoured their responsibilities, and I have actually been successful in forgoing the increases. I have never received a bad reference. However, my girlfriend - as I said - does not want to make waves, and we dutifully pay our rent on time and accept any rent increases, but I'm always offended by anything we get that says they are increasing the rent or that they are going to turn up and inspect the property, considering that they can't actually honour any of their responsibilities.

I used to live in a house with my Mum and the landlady was one of her good friends. It worked out really well. At some point they decided to sell. Of course they didn't use an agent to rent the property to us, but they used an agent when selling. We had someone turn up on the doorstep saying they had been calling the estate agent for a couple of weeks to make an offer but kept getting fobbed off by the agent and never getting called back. My Mum called her friend and she had not heard anything about getting an offer. It was a good offer, and this was the person who the property was eventually sold to. Like I said, there is no way I would ever use an agent as an owner either renting out or selling a house.

[incognito]

My mum was a real estate agent you punks! Let me assure you that they put up with ALOT of fwits indeed. They have to answer to house owners AND company directors.

All she

Was

Mainly concerned with was putting a feed on the table.

So Santiago I spit in your

Retina, was from my

Mum. And she also said you have 4 weeks to move out..

Edited September 3, 2012 by incognito

[santiago]

haha sorry incog i knew i would inadventantly offend someone....i still hate them though.

every line of work has mess to deal with so dealing with managers, customers and buyers is just a normal day at work for most people anyway so thats not an excuse for your mum but ill cut her a little slack just cos its you

this typifies the sales side of real estate, i once went to a training seminar for entry level employment into one of the bigger companies.............the first question was to pretend you were asked a question by a potential buyer....

"How long have you been in real estate for Mr salesman?"

answer-as directed by company...

(point being buyers wont buy off beginners most likely so a lie must be inserted to fool buyer)

the answer is......whatever you want it to be

i have been in my rental property for 5 years...so technically i have been in the "real estate game" for 5 years.

so as you can see, whilst not told to tell complete lies, technical lies are accepted and encouraged by the real estate establishment.

most of all i hate those faces on bus stops, newspapers and signs...of those smarmy real estate agents all wanting to HELP you, like they are your best buddy.....most of the time i feel like defacing them....there is a famous one here that has the angelic face and the slogan next to it......''YES WE CAN", you flippin idiot agents i think......the opposite "NO I CANT" yes you can well of course yes you can then why else would you be here real estate agent.

all those faces are just sharks that want to steal your money, those faces want to steal your money....make no lie about that.