Are they allowed to ask about complaints? Or pets? Or are they only allowed to verify length of residence and all that?

I don't think landlords are bound by any type of code. They can volunteer any information they want and if you kept your nose clean, then they wouldn't have any personal information to provide. I don't really think though anyone would check with a previous landlord. Why would they need too ?

Landlords can verify that you paid your rent on time, never had a complaint filed against you, if you had pets - that you aacted responsibly and did not receive any warnings and that you did not allow your pet to trash your apartment, that you were not given to parties involving drugs and or alcohol, that you did not have other people living with you that were not on the lease, that you vacated the apartment with the proper notice, and that you left the apartment in the same - or better - condition as when you moved in.

People do check with previous landlords - to find out if you were a good tenant. Someone who punches a hole in the wall and then moves out - no other landlord wants that person. The new landlord wants to know all of the above in the first paragraph.

Yes as a landlord I push to get every bit if information on future tennatns that I can. From how many people have been actually living in the house, to esp payment info, how many times late, any bounced checks.

Next if it is not the current landlord, I find out if they left the place in a mess, if the police were ever called, and so on.

Remember when you sign the rental applicatoin you are signing permission for us to check your background.

Also if I often run a credit check.

As long as what the landlord says is verifiable, they can say anything they want.

The release our prospective tenants sign before we run a credit report states that they are allowing us to talk to past landlords. Here is a small section: " I authorize all persons, business organizations, companies, corporations, landlords, banks, credit bureaus and law enforcement agencies to provide the landlord and/or its agents any information concerning my background. I release the landlord/management and its agents from any and all liability, responsibility, damages and claims of any kind whatsoever arising from this investigation of my background." With this one page (separate from the application) you are able to ask whatever questions you would like to ask... and we do! We start our telephone conversation (to the former landlord) off with the fact that we have a signed release allowing us to speak to former landlords, and are willing to fax that release if requested. The rental property is probably one of the largest assets the landlord has and he has to protect his interests by conducting due diligence before entering into a contract.

Using the addresses provided on the credit report, or from a separate list of addresses provided by the social security number trace, a landlord should call property records/auditor's office and ask who owns the property and the tax address. Then call the past landlord. The past landlord is the best reference. The current landlord may lie just to get the tenants out before they wreck the property. Or the name listed by the prospective tenant may really be a friend and not a landlord at all. Past landlords have no reason not to tell you the truth. Don't take the information off the application as being truthful. An application gives the prospective tenant an opportunity to lie and the landlord an opportunity to catch that lie. Always verify all information through a third party.

Remember, the Fair Credit Reporting Act specifies that the form used to request a credit report must be a separate and distinct form, and NOT PART OF THE APPLICATION. This is one of the mistakes landlords make most often. Most landlords word the release correctly, but they have the paragraph at the bottom of their application which is against the FCRA. By popping that application into a fax machine and sending it to a past landlord or an employer, a federal law is broken.