Renter says his apartment application was cancelled after asking agent this question

An Australian man has revealed he had his rental application cancelled after a terse back-and-forth with his real estate agent. Photo / Getty

An Australian man has revealed he had his rental application cancelled after a terse back-and-forth with his real estate agent.

Tom Cashman said he asked his agent to contact the landlord of his prospective rental to provide a reference from recent tenants.

He said it was only fair, as he had been asked to provide several rental references before having his application approved.

"I wanted to know if the landlord was good to their tenants," Cashman told his Instagram followers. The response was a bit more intense than I was expecting.

"They didn't respond for four days, so I followed it up. She then responded 'I don't understand the question, please clarify.'

"She said unfortunately the owner will not provide a reference as they are not in contact with the previous tenant."

Cashman said he told the agent he was surprised the real estate didn't have a single email address of a previous tenant on record.

He was then told the landlord would not comply with his request and then immediately received a separate email informing him his application to rent the apartment had been withdrawn.

"The owner does not wish to connect the previous tenants and that is not a requirement. All the best with your property search," the agent responded.

He replied with an email stating he understood it wasn't a requirement and requested a response as to why he'd been shafted from the property.

"I'm sorry if it was an unreasonable request," he said.

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She then claimed the landlord was looking for a longer term lease application.

"This wasn't a requirement before I got approved," Cashman said.

He admitted his exchange definitely "pissed Stephanie off", but called on future rental applicants to ask for landlord references to normalise the practice.

"In conclusion, I think asking for a reference is a good idea. However, if they can't find anyone, I would advise rubbing their nose in it, because they will immediately reject your application," he said.