My owner doesn't allow us to give rental references. The only thing we're allowed to say is if they left us in good standing or not. We use their credit history to determine their security deposit.

With some of mine, if I don't hear back I'll just call and leave a message for them to just text me back and answer these 2 questions. Did they pay on time, and would you rent to them again? It's not a lot of info, but if either of them are a no then that's all I need to know.

To me they are very important but we have a difficult time getting others to send them back to us and I rarely get them anymore for my residents that are moving! If someone has horrible credit but great rental history then that tells me their priorities are in order and I'd lease to them!

We rarely get rental verifications sent to us. Which tells me: 1. putting different addresses on applications. or 2. other apts are not checking current or previous rental. OR both... who knows.

I put a lot of stock in credit reports. My gut has never been wrong about them and I've learned the hard way to follow it. If they aren't paying their other bills then they either aren't going to pay you, or their wages will be taken and then they can't.
Never trust a reference from a current landlord. They may be trying to get rid of them. I also look up the address and phone number on Google myself and see if it's an actual place with the right business number and not their friend.

Do not do them. Credit report and income are determining factors