Landlords need to be wary of taking references provided by a potential tenant for references are easy to fake.
There are now even online sites that provide fake landlord references. For a fee, these fake reference companies will even answer the phone to give verbal confirmation that the tenant/ client is the epitome of high morale and trustworthiness. So glowing in fact, you might even consider inviting them to move in with you.
Once in, however, it might become clear why the tenant used a fake reference service in the first place, but by then it will be too late.
So be warned, and always take up the usual tenant checks alongside any reference provided by a potential tenants – however professional it might appear.
Source; HawkEye of Landlord and BLT