How To Remove or Dispute a Negative Landlord Reference

If a former landlord gives you negative references, you can talk to them to resolve any issues, mitigate the damages by showing evidence of your reliability as a tenant, or ask a lawyer to write a cease-and-desist letter. If your old landlord is making defamatory statements, you can file a lawsuit to hold them responsible for your financial losses.

With the competition for finding decent and affordable rentals, dealing with a former landlord’s negative references is an unnecessary complication. For legal advice about removing or disputing a negative landlord’s references, talk to a local landlord-tenant lawyer.

Using Your Former Landlord as a Reference

When you try to rent a new apartment or rental property, you have to submit your rental application. The rental application asks for information about your rental history, employment history, and credit information. As part of the tenant screening, the prospective landlord may ask for employment references and a reference from a former landlord.

The potential landlord may ask the former landlord about your payment history, late payments, property damage, or other issues that could signal a red flag. When landlords have multiple applicants, they generally go with the applicant with the lowest risk of not paying rent on time, damaging the property, or breaking the lease.

Generally, you should only get a reference when you know what the other person will say. Get an employer or landlord reference letter from someone with whom you had a good relationship. Let them know ahead of time that they may be hearing from the landlord or property manager for a reference check.

When you have problems with a former landlord, it could hurt your chances of approval for a current rental application. If the landlord is telling the truth about your late payment, lease violations, or an eviction, your best option is to use a different reference. However, if the landlord is making false claims about your rental history, they may be committing defamation.

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When Landlords Give Negative Feedback

A former landlord may give negative feedback about you as a tenant, even if you paid your rent on time, didn’t cause any damage, or gave the landlord no cause for concern.

A former landlord may even give a bad reference just because you moved out at a time when it was hard for them to find a new tenant.

Unfortunately, landlord-tenant laws may only provide limited protections against a negative reference by your former landlord, unless the reference crosses the line into unlawful discrimination, retaliation, or defamation.

Try To Resolve the Negative Review With the Landlord Directly

Whatever the reason, your first option may be to talk to the former landlord to resolve any issues. When you call out the landlord, they may decide to stop being uncooperative for no reason. You can also resolve any misunderstandings that caused them to give a negative reference.

If they won’t cooperate, try to take proactive steps to address the negative feedback before prospective landlords hear about it.

Mitigate Damages with Prospective Landlords

When you apply for a new rental property, you can explain the disputes with your prior landlord and show evidence that you are a reliable and responsible tenant.

Provide bank statements proving regular, on-time payments, or documentary proof that you received your full security deposit when you left the prior rental. You can also get other references to show you had a good relationship with your other landlords. If you are able, you can also offer a higher security deposit as a showing of good faith.

When To Involve a Lawyer

Talking to a lawyer can help resolve retaliatory or inaccurate landlord references. A cease and desist letter or referencing potential litigation for defamation can be enough to stop the landlord from making up lies about you as a former tenant.

Ideally, a warning will be enough to put an end to the negative landlord reviews. However, if it continues, you can decide to take more serious legal action.

Landlords Cannot Give Negative Reviews Based on Protected Characteristics

Landlords can complain about you having too many visitors, making too much noise, or painting the walls the wrong color. However, landlords cannot take adverse action, including giving negative references, based on protected characteristics.

The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and civil rights laws protect against discrimination in housing. Protected classes under federal fair housing law include race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and familial status.

Many states and cities also protect additional traits, such as sexual orientation and gender identity. If a former landlord discriminates against you based on your protected characteristics, you can file a housing discrimination claim for damages.

Apartment Credit and Background Checks

Many prospective landlords and property managers will conduct a tenant background check as part of the rental application process. Depending on the background check company, a tenant screening may return results for the applicant’s:

• Credit report
• Criminal history
• Prior eviction history

A tenant background check generally will not show individual landlord references. However, it will indicate prior evictions. Evictions may also show up on a credit check because it could indicate problems with your creditworthiness. An eviction-related report will generally include information about the rental property location, eviction date, court record, outcome, and other information.

If information in the credit or background check is incorrect, you can contact the credit reporting agencies to dispute errors in your credit report. Submit a dispute to the credit bureau (Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion). Include a description of the error and any supporting documentation. The credit bureau must investigate your dispute and notify you of the outcome.

Defamation Claims Against a Former Landlord

Defamation generally involves making a false statement of fact about someone to a third person, without an applicable legal privilege, that causes reputational harm. A written defamatory statement about a former tenant is libel, and spoken false statements about a former tenant are slander.

You can file a civil lawsuit against a former landlord for defamation if their statements caused you to lose your application fee or miss out on an apartment. You can seek financial compensation for your losses, and, in some cases, you may be able to ask the court for a narrowly tailored order after a finding of defamation, but courts are often reluctant to issue broad injunctions against speech.

However, it may cost you more in legal fees to prove defamation than you would recover in compensation. Unless they are causing significant financial harm, a defamation lawsuit should generally be your last option.

Find Legal Help

To understand all your legal options, contact a local landlord-tenant attorney for legal advice.