What sort of references did they ask for, and did they verify income in any way?
Are you sure they didn't run a credit report anyway (even if there was no history of borrowing on it)?
In SF, they tend to ask for a copy of your credit report or enough info (social security number) to run one themselves.
And they ask more aggressively when the market is tight -- for example, in 2000, it was wise to bring a printed credit report to the first showing of a vacancy, so your application could be considered in the batch of 10+ people that were applying on the spot. It's not nearly so tight right now.
