Man Gets Rental Application Denied After Making 'Cheeky' Request To Landlord

An Australian comedian has gone viral for his ingenious request while applying for a rental property.

Tom Cashman got approved for a new apartment and before he signed on the dotted line, he wanted to know something.

It's standard practice for tenants to supply references to a real estate agent to let the landlord know what type of person will eventually be living in their home.

However, Tom flipped that idea on its head and wanted to see if there were any previous tenants who could provide a reference for the landlord.

The bloke was simply trying to ascertain whether his prospective landlord was going to be a nice person to deal with.

He didn't hear back from the real estate company for a few days and when he followed up, they were a little confused by his request.

Tom replied saying: "No worries. I was asking whether the owner would provide a reference written by a previous tenant of theirs recommending them as a landlord.

"I've found this is an effective way to find out if an owner is good to their tenants and it seems appropriate as I've already provided a few references to them."

There was a bunch of back-and-forth between the real estate agent, whose name is only known as Stephanie, and she concluded that the landlord isn't in contact with any of their previous tenants.

"I assume the owner or the real estate [agent] would have their previous tenants' email addresses," he replied.

"So just to confirm, the owner doesn't have any previous tenants they could get in touch with to write a positive reference for them?"

Stephanie confirmed that was the case and Tom thought he could move on and enjoy the thought of moving into his new place.

However, he was shocked to discover that his application was withdrawn.

He contacted the real estate company to see what happened and Stephanie informed him that the landlord wanted someone on a longer lease period.

Tom found that strange considering he had already been approved for the period he'd applied for.

But he said in his TikTok video that even though he was knocked back on his request, people should start to do this more often.

"I think asking for a landlord reference is a good idea and if we all do it, it could become quite normalised," he said.

"However if they can't find someone to give them a good reference, I'd advise against rubbing their noses in it."