My friend needs me to act as a current landlord
<p>My friend is having a hard time renting because she has never lived on her own. Everywhere she's gone they said she has to show 3 years rental history. I'm not coming doing this I feel it's fraud. I need something that I can show her so she'll believe I could get into trouble.</p>

<p>Fraud is deliberate deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain - what she is proposing is fraud.</p>

<p>It’s a crime for which you could both go to jail, however, prosecution is unlikely.</p>

<p>A greater risk is that if she fails to pay the rent or wrecks the place, the landlord can sue you for the loss. Of course, a real referee can be sued for negligent misstatement so, even if you were her landlord, the reference should disclose <em>everything</em>: the good and the bad.</p>

<p>If you are willing to be on the hook for her debts, a better and legal way to help her is to offer to stand guarantor for her.</p>

real-estate