Landlord reference letter?

I know it has been suggested that we try to get some of reference letter from our current landlord in the States so that it might make our home search a bit easier. But our landlord hasn't a clue about what to write. He's handing over the task to us  and he'll happily sign whatever we come up with)

So is there a specific format that leasing agents are looking for in these letters? Or should I just include the obvious information---length of tenancy, paid rent on time, kept the property tidy, etc?

Anybody?

I suppose my next question is....has anyone even needed a reference letter to submit to landlords, leasing agencies, etc while house hunting?

Yes, we have absolutely needed a reference letter for pretty much every place we've ever let in the UK.

The current one I have is a form letter from the management company overseeing the apartments we lived in. It has our names, the unit number which we rented, the date the tenancy began, amount of monthly rent and a check mark next to "yes" for "paid satisfactorily" and "no" for "account was/is in arrears". It's signed by the management company's rep, with her title and the date.

Thanks!

I've found a few sample letters online that seem to include some of that information (length of tenancy, etc), but some of them are so vague or fluffy---"So and So would be a valued resident of your property..."