Fraudulent rental applications surge nationwide as housing costs remain elevated

Fake rental applications are proliferating across the country as the U.S. rental market has become increasingly unaffordable and competitive.

Greystar, the country’s largest apartment landlord, told FOX Business that it has seen a clear increase in fraudulent applications nationwide.

"Fraud in rental applications has become increasingly sophisticated across the industry, with some of the most advanced cases involving AI-generated documents and fabricated payroll systems," Greystar said. 

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Eric Taylor, lead for trust and safety at TurboTenant, a free online property management platform, is also seeing an uptick, telling FOX Business that nearly 75% of apartment owners across the nation reported a sharp rise in falsified applications last year, which is up about 40% on average.

"As rental prices rise, and affordable housing remains scarce, scammers are getting more sophisticated. They’ve actually begun using doctored pay stubs, fake employment letters and even AI-generated credit profiles to qualify for luxury apartments they can't afford," Taylor said.

However, Greystar noticed that the activity is prevalent in certain areas of Atlanta, including Midtown, Downtown, and Buckhead, which is an area known for high-end shopping, dining and luxury living. In some of those neighborhoods, the company discovered that around half of applications were flagged as fraudulent.

In other markets, such as Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Salt Lake City, Utah; Portland, Oregon; Charleston, South Carolina; and Boston, Massachusetts, the share of fake applications typically ranges between 14% and 18%, according to Greystar.

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Fake applications generally have falsified or stolen information designed to misrepresent an applicant’s financial or personal background with the most common forms including forged pay stubs, bank statements and employment verification letters. In some cases, people create entirely fabricated identities created using stolen or manipulated personal information.

"This issue has become more prevalent as technology has made it easier to create convincing forgeries and as more leasing processes have moved online," Greystar said. 

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It is a serious challenge that Greystar said it is confronting by enlisting the help of multiple fraud detection providers. It is also training its teams regularly and embedding advanced verification tools into our leasing process to protect both residents and communities. Greystar has also implemented multiple layers of verification to identify and prevent fraud, protecting both our residents and the integrity of the leasing process.

The company admitted that while no system is perfect, its approach has "significantly reduced the number of bad applications" in communities.

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"These efforts protect residents, promote housing stability, and help maintain the integrity of the rental process," the company said.

The American Apartment Owners Association said in a 2023 report that if a landlord discovers false information on a rental application after a tenant has signed a lease, the tenant may be subject to eviction and may even be required to leave the premises without notice. 

If someone is evicted for lying on a rental application, the judgment will appear on future credit reports and background screenings, giving them issues when filling out future applications, the association said.

Taylor said the surge in fraud has already led to higher eviction rates, inflated rents and financial losses that ripple throughout the rental market, affecting both landlords and honest renters.

"The backlog in evictions and tenant protection laws mean many fraudulent tenants stay longer, compounding losses," Taylor added.