By Dawn Anastasi, RPA Board Member

We have covered this topic at prior RPA meetings, however it bears repeating.

Let's say that you are renting out a property and in one of the applications, you suspect that the applicant put down their friend's phone number as a reference.

(You do call current and prior landlords for references, correct?)

Non-owner occupied properties in Milwaukee get registered with the Department of Neighborhood Services. Those records are public information and can be looked up in order to find out the owner information. 

Link to My Milwaukee Home

Simply enter the property address then click "Submit Address". The property owner's name appears, and when you scroll down, you will see a section titled "Registration Owner". Click on the "Owner Registration" link and you will find the name/address and phone number for the preferred contact, registration owner, and/or operator.

If the owner has not kept this information up to date, it may be old, but it may give you the actual owner's phone number to contact and get a true reference.

Check out more Landlord Links on the RPA website.