As a landlord, you’ll likely be asked to write a letter of reference for a tenant at some point. Your policy may even be to request a letter of recommendation for tenants who are applying to your rental. A landlord reference letter helps you confirm that a tenant is reliable and that they can adhere to the terms of the lease — and it’s important to be able to provide the same info to other landlords when requested.
Note: This guide is for informational purposes only. Zillow, Inc. does not make any guarantees about the sufficiency of the information in or linked to from this guide, or that it’s compliant with current, applicable or local laws. Landlord-tenant laws change rapidly and may be regulated at the federal, state and local levels. This resource is not a substitute for the advice or service of an attorney; you should not rely on this resource for any purpose without consulting with a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.
A landlord reference letter will typically include:
If you’re the one requesting a tenant reference letter , be sure to specify that you would like one from a former landlord — you don’t want the prospective tenant to assume it can be a reference letter from a friend, colleague or roommate.
Your letter of recommendation for tenants should never violate fair housing laws by discriminating against a protected class of renters. This includes treating someone differently because of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, disability and more. You can inadvertently violate fair housing laws by referencing a person’s membership in a protected class, even if you are being complimentary.
Depending on your local laws , you may have additional protected classes to consider when discussing a tenant. It’s always a good idea to have a local lawyer review your landlord reference letter before you send it out.
Always remember to be professional, whether you’re asking for more information from a former landlord or writing a formal letter. Never let emotions or biases cast an inaccurate light on a tenant, whether it’s positive or negative.
Here are four tips to keep in mind when you write a landlord reference letter :
Did the tenant pay rent on time and take care of the property? Was their dog well-behaved and looked after properly? Describe your shared rental history with facts, not opinions. You can reference rules and policies in your lease and describe how the tenant followed or violated them.
The most critical part of writing a personal reference letter for apartment s or other properties is honesty. You don’t want to mislead a future landlord about a challenging tenant, and you also don’t want to give inaccurate statements that could present a negative view of the tenant. Do your best to back all your statements up with proof, like rent receipts or late rent notices .
A landlord reference letter template will make it easier to maintain your professionalism and can save time when you need to write multiple letters. You can use our sample landlord reference letters to get started — just copy and paste into your own document and fill in the blanks.
Before sending a rental reference letter to a tenant or a landlord, be sure to read it over for any spelling errors and consider having someone else review it as well. If you’re using a template, make sure all the fields are filled in correctly — you don’t want to paste the wrong address or leave a greeting blank.
When writing a letter of reference for a tenant , it’s generally a good practice to start with an introduction about how you know the tenant and how long you rented to them.
I’m writing this letter of recommendation on behalf of [name], a former tenant of my property at [address]. [Name] was a tenant of mine from [start] to [end].
After that, you can discuss your rental history with the tenant. Talk about their reliability, cleanliness and the rental’s condition when they moved out. Keep it positive — if you can’t recommend the tenant, consider declining to write the letter.
[Name] was a responsible and reliable renter. They maintained the property well and cleaned it thoroughly at move-out. During their tenancy, there were no complaints from neighbors or lease violations such as late rent payments or unauthorized residents.
After the specifics, conclude your tenant reference letter with your overall recommendation.
I would gladly rent to [name] again, because they paid rent on time and were very responsible. Please contact me if you have any follow-up questions.
[Signature and contact information]
Here are some sample landlord reference letters to use when recommending tenants:
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