How to Check a Landlord Before You Sign a Lease
They run a background check on you. The public record lets you run one on them.
Renting is lopsided: the landlord runs your credit, income, and record, while you are asked to sign and hand over a deposit on trust. Public records let you even it out — confirm who actually owns the building, whether they have a history of evictions or code violations, and whether the "landlord" is who they claim before your money moves.
1. Confirm who owns the building
Look the address up in the county assessor and recorder (see how to look up a property owner and deed). Confirm the person collecting your rent matches the owner of record — or is a documented property manager. A "landlord" who is not on the deed and cannot show authority is a classic rental scam, where someone re-lists a property they do not control and vanishes with the deposit.
The deposit scam works because you never checked the deed. It takes five minutes to close that door.
2. Pierce the LLC
Most rentals are held by an LLC. Run it through the Secretary of State business registry to find the human and confirm the entity is active. A dissolved LLC or an owner you cannot trace is worth a hard question before signing.
3. Check eviction and code history
Landlords appear in court too. Search the local court records for the owner's or LLC's name to see a pattern of eviction filings. Many cities publish a code-violation or building-complaints database — search "[city] building violations lookup." A long trail of unaddressed violations or serial evictions tells you what kind of landlord you are dealing with.
4. Never wire a deposit sight-unseen
Per the FTC, the biggest rental fraud tells are: a deal too good for the area, a "landlord" who is traveling and cannot show the unit, and a demand to wire money or pay in gift cards before you see a lease or the property. Tour it, verify the owner, then pay traceably.
The takeaway
Deed to confirm the owner, business registry to pierce the LLC, court and code records for the pattern, and never wire before you verify. Know your tenant protections too — the record protects you both ways.