Rental verification can be challenging—unresponsive references, ghost landlords, and even document fraud can all complicate the process. And that’s not even accounting for the pitfalls that can come up with roommates and partial leaseholders. 

If your applicant was an occupant, sublessor, or part of a co-living space, a direct legal relationship between the landlord and your prospective tenant may not exist. Rent payments may have gone to a roommate, a leaseholder, or a managing company. 

In these cases, knowing who to contact and how to confirm rent payments and tenant behavior can get tricky. But don’t skip rental verification—it’s a critical step in tenant screening to assess if your future resident will be a good tenant. 

With some flexibility and creativity, you can adapt your verification of rent workflow to cover these scenarios, including roommates and partial leaseholders.

We’re looking at who you can contact, what questions to ask, and how to fairly evaluate your applicant.

Quick Insights

• Many renters don’t have a direct relationship with their landlord because they’re not legally tenants. They may be roommates, authorized occupants, sublessors, or co-living residents.
• Verifying rent for these situations can be challenging. Rent payments may have gone to a master tenant or primary leaseholder, so a paper trail may be hard to come by.
• A consistent yet adaptable playbook can accommodate these scenarios effectively. Start by understanding the setup, find out who to contact, ask the right questions, and corroborate the information with other documents.
• Investing in creating a compliant, repeatable process now will save you time and help you avoid possible legal problems down the line. 

Why This Situation is So Common

Shared housing is on the rise, thanks in part to spiking housing costs. Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reported in 2024 that rents are up 26% from 2020, and home prices are up 47%.

As these costs increase, more people are finding roommates, moving in with family members, or renting a room in a co-living community.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, housesharing between non-related people is at a record high of 6.8 million people in 2023—and that’s not including multifamily apartments, which make up almost 50% of rental stock in the US. 

Often, these renters are young adults, like students in university housing or early-career professionals in high-cost cities. Research from Bowling Green State University found that 8.7% of young, single adults had a roommate in 2022, up from 7.4% in 1990. 

As the number of people in shared housing rises, more and more renters aren’t primary leaseholders—instead, they occupy the space in a different role, like:

• Subtenant. Someone who subleases a unit has a direct relationship with the tenant, but not the property manager or owner.
• Authorized occupant. They’re listed on the lease and can live in the unit, but they don’t have the same legal obligations as a tenant.
• Informal occupant. A person who doesn’t have a legal arrangement with their landlord. This setup could be someone living with extended family or even a couchsurfer.
• Customer of managed housing. Universities, co-living companies, and corporations offering corporate housing typically have this arrangement. It’s where a company is the leaseholder of multiple spaces within a complex or building that they lease out.

The Core Challenge

Without a traditional landlord in the picture, confirming crucial details like rent payment consistency or lease compliance might not be as straightforward.

A landlord or property manager may not have any direct lease payment records from your applicant, and any legal issues would’ve fallen on the leaseholder. 

But without checking renter references, you’re flying blind. You might approve a tenant who didn’t pay their rent to the leaseholder or who violated important guest or pet policies.

And the potential downsides of approving a bad tenant are high, including: 

• Lease violations, like unauthorized pets or guests
• Property damage 
• Expensive evictions 
• Unpaid rent and bad debt

Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to protect your properties and your business. 

Step 1: Identify the Nature of Their Past Living Arrangement

Start with a simple rule of thumb: ”Clarify before you verify.” Understanding your applicant’s specific living situation will help you know who to contact, what questions to ask, and which red flags to look out for. 

To determine the nature of the rental arrangement, you can ask the applicant questions like:

• “Were you on the lease, or were you an approved occupant?” 
• “Who did you pay rent to?” 
• “Can you provide documentation showing your rent payments?” 

Their responses will help clarify if the applicant was a subtenant, co-leaseholder, authorized occupant, or informal occupant.

If the applicant was an unauthorized occupant, they may be reluctant to answer some of these questions. Focus on identifying the leaseholder so you can confirm that your applicant paid rent and was a responsible roommate.

Step 2: Decide Who to Contact

Now that you know more about the living arrangement, you need to decide who’s a legitimate rental reference. The applicant’s role or their living arrangement will determine the best contact: 

Roommates and subtenants. Contact the primary leaseholder or master tenant and ask for documentation of rent payments, like Venmo payments or checks.

Member of managed housing. For college dorms, co-living spaces, or corporate housing, contact the company leaseholder. This could be a university, co-living company, or corporation. Ask for records of tenant behavior and payments, if applicable.

Informal renter. If there’s no clear landlord or the applicant rented off the books, request alternate proof of rental payment, like bank statements. Confirm previous addresses with utility bills or mail. 

Step 3: What to Ask During the Verification

When verifying rent for non-traditional setups, you may need to adjust your questions. You’ll still want to confirm rent payments and tenant behavior, but your framing may need to shift. 

If your applicant wasn’t a leaseholder, you may not be able to ask about lease-specific issues, such as violations and security deposit deductions. Instead, you may need to ask more generally about what they were like to live with. 

For example, if you’re talking to a primary leaseholder about your applicant, instead of asking about lease violations, you might ask if the applicant kept their space clean and respected shared living areas. 

Regardless of living situation, be sure to confirm this information: 

Rent amount and payment consistency. How much did they pay in rent? Did they pay it on time?

Payment method. Who did the applicant pay rent to, and how?

Behavior. Did the applicant follow community rules, maintain shared spaces, and follow community guidelines? Did they experience any conflicts with other roommates or landlords?

Reference. Would you rent to or room with them again? How would you describe them to a prospective roommate?

You may want to ask additional questions, like, “Were there any issues with cleanliness, noise, or guest policies?” or, “Did they give proper notice when moving out?” Also ask whether they left any damage beyond normal wear and tear when they moved out.

Step 4: Gather Supporting Documentation 

References from friends or roommates may not feel as reliable or objective as those from property managers or landlords. But supporting documentation can substantiate glowing reviews from non-professional sources. 

The more documents you can cross-reference, the more detailed and accurate a picture you can paint of your applicant. Consider requesting documents like: 

• Rent payment receipts, electronic payment history, or bank statements showing payments to a master tenant or similar
• Lease agreements or addendums with the applicant’s name listed as an occupant
• Utility bills with their name and address
• Reference letters from co-tenants or property staff 

Pro tip: All application documents should undergo fraud detection to catch forgeries and alterations. 

Step 5: Cross-Verify with Other Screening Criteria

Rent verification is just one portion of thorough tenant screening, so if you’re finding gaps in the applicant’s rental history, you can use other data for a more holistic understanding.

Keep in mind that the goal of tenant screening is to evaluate if a tenant is likely to pay rent on time, maintain their unit, and respect lease terms and community rules. You can make this assessment without a complete rental history by supplementing with:

Credit score. A credit check tells you about an applicant’s payment reliability and overall financial health.

Income verification. Proof of income confirms that your applicant can meet your rent-to-income ratio.

ID verification. Rental application fraud often involves the use of fake or synthetic identities. Identity proofing is a critical fraud deterrent.

Background check. Background checks can flag important criminal issues in your applicant’s past.

Employment verification. Speaking with the applicant’s current employer can give you insight into the applicant’s employment stability and how they interact with others. 

Even with some rental history gaps, a strong credit score, positive employer references, and a clean background check can tip the scales in your applicant’s favor.

Step 6: Document Your Process for Compliance

Rent verification is subject to the same rules and regulations as other tenant screening steps, including the Fair Housing Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act. To maintain compliance, document and follow the same process every time. 

Even if an applicant was previously a roommate or has a similar relationship, don’t go off book. Stick to your policies and procedures and follow these best practices: 

• Get consent before contacting any references, including previous landlords, roommates, or housing managers.
• Record all outreach attempts, responses, and documents received. Not sure what to save? When in doubt, keep the receipt.
• Apply the same objective criteria to every applicant, regardless of rental history. Don’t ask for additional documentation or references based on protected characteristics like religion, national origin, or familial status.
• Document your process and policies, and review them with each applicant. Consider including language like, “Applicants without a formal landlord reference may provide alternative documentation to prove rental payment history.”
• Train your team on handling verification of rent for occupants, subtenants, and partial leaseholders. Emphasize the importance of consistency, objectivity, and compliance. 

Best Practices for Future Applications 

A few changes to your current tenant screening process can save you time and effort during future verifications. 

In your application and screening, a couple of high-level changes can create flexibility for applicants with non-traditional rental history, like:

• Incorporating policy language to allow applicants to submit alternative documentation, such as leases, utility bills, and payment receipts from Venmo or other platforms
• Using automated verification tools to verify the authenticity of alternative documentation 

More specifically, in the rental history portion of your tenant screening form, add additional fields for each previous address:

• Clarify the nature of the living arrangement, like, “Were you the leaseholder, co-tenant, or occupant?”
• Include a field for alternate contact information for each address, such as for a primary leaseholder or roommate.
• Ask for their rent portion amount and the method of payment, like checks or Venmo payments to a roommate.

Flexibility in Rental Verification Makes for Smarter Tenant Screening

Rental verification is a necessary part of tenant screening, but verifying rent for roommates and partial leaseholders can be more complex. A careful balance of flexibility and consistency helps you collect the information you need while staying compliant with applicable laws. 

Roommates, partial leaseholders, and sublessors aren’t automatically more risky, but you may need to take extra steps when confirming their rental and payment history. These steps might include confirming the nature of the living arrangement, contacting a non-landlord, and collecting corroborating evidence. 

Remember, the purpose of rent verification is to establish reliable payment history and responsible tenant behavior. Non-landlords, including former roommates and master tenants, can provide this information, especially in combination with supporting documentation. 

A well-documented and adaptable process can help you approve good tenants while minimizing uncertainty. Incorporating fraud detection into other tenant screening steps, such as ID verification and document authentication, can help minimize risk.