Thought I was done posting on old renter?

I think I would just ignore the texts. If he persists then I would say, I really don’t think I would be a good reference.”

I’d say ignore the text and block his number. I wouldn’t want to get in the middle of any of this guy’s future dealings. If you give him a bad reference he could try to lash out back at you for that and if you gave him a positive reference it would be a disservice to the new landlord knowing what you know. I would want to stay as far away from that nutball as I could.

He did not ask you for a “good reference”. That omission right there would allow me to say sure, and then when contacted absolutely unload on every horrible things he ever did on the prospective landlord to keep him out of their home. And I would absolutely not feel guilty about it.

It’s a little detail we were taught by our professors when asking for letters of rec when applying for grad schools and jobs. If you say “good letter of rec” or “good letter of reference”, the professor can either agree to that term or can politely tell you “no I am unable to do this for you at this time”. Which would then allow you to politely ask why not or what can I do to make myself a better applicant or something. But if you just say “can you write me a letter of rec or be a job reference”, the door is wide open for them to say yes, and also to speak the truth about how you behaved during your time period with that person.

I had to do it with one of my undergrad practicum students. I specifically went over this point with my students. Like, obnoxiously so because it is THAT important. And this girl completely ignored my warnings about it. She asked me to write her a letter of rec to the supervising professor. I said yes. And I wrote my letter of non-recommendation complete with detailed examples of what had happened that made me do that. My professor was immensely proud of me, and she did not get into grad school that year (she made a MASSIVE mistake followed by more mini mistakes). (He was proud of me for not sugar coating my assessment of her performance and not skirting the issues. My being too nice was something that he and I specifically worked on when I was in graduate school, and for me to do something like this, so out of character for me showed growth and understanding of the gravity of the situation). I still don’t feel guilty about it and it’s been 12 years.

If it was me, I'd text back and say yes, you will provide a reference that he lived with you.

If you are contacted, answer the questions they ask. Don't offer any info beyond that, even though it was a trying situation. If they have ANY brains, they'll be able to figure things out by the answers you give to them. Not your problem now.

Chances are, you'll never hear from potential landlords.

I would reply If you want to.

Then I would block his number.

You don't need to be hearing from him

I would text back saying you are 'not interested in serving as a reference for him.' If he uses you anyway and a potential landlord contacts you, simply verify that, yes, you rented a room to him from x-date to x-date. To every question they ask you, reiterate that 'I can only confirm I rented to him from x-date to x-date.' Hopefully, they read between the lines.

If I were a potential landlord, I would want to know about his past behavior. If he is putting you in as a reference, why would you not tell the truth?

I'm not sure why this man is still in your life in any way.

Ignore and move on. For good. 

If he texts back and is persistent, tell them the truth.

I'd go with 'I can only confirm that he was an occupant of my home from mm/dd/yy to mm/dd/yy.' Then add details when they persist. Which they will.

Be careful. I don't want to see any news articles about you. 

So glad he is out  almost out of your life!

I voted yes, and then tell the agency everything.

I think he needs to hear from someone impartial what his failings are as a renter. If this agency can tell him that they can only take him on if agrees not to specifically a) b) c) etc, then he might realise that these are the reasons he can't keep a home. So the agency is not naming you or the other renter as a tattle-tale, but is giving him solid advice about what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Maybe he can modify his behaviour, or maybe he has deep-seated issues and is going to be moved from place to place forever, but at least you've done your best.

What Is your payoff for interacting with him? There is some benefit or you would've ignored the first message and blocked his number.

No is a complete sentence.

I don't understand why he doesn't get regular rental housing. Like an apartment where he can be his weird self and have his own bathroom and not share a house. What's the back story on that?

I think the correct response would be "New phone, who dis"