Some landlords feel they can sense a good tenant from a bad one. They go with their gut.
They consider appearance, or the condition of the applicant’s car, but in reality, appearances are easily faked.
While a gut feeling is important – it is probably your subconscious telling you that something is out of sorts, to rely on that alone to avoid a fraudulent applicant is really more superstition than science.
Any one applicant may be honest, or may be trying to defraud you. If it were easy to tell the difference, so many landlords wouldn’t be getting ripped off.
Don’t risk your income on luck. Have a concrete plan for tenant screening that includes the following:
Discourage Fraudulent Rental Applicants
Let every applicant know before you meet with them that you will be running a full tenant background check on each adult and asking for documentation to verify the rental application. This will discourage fraudsters who were sizing you up to determine if you are an easy mark.
Catch Them in the Act
Stealing a social security number or faking a driver’s license is easier than creating an entire persona that matches tenant screening reports, including previous addresses, employment and tenant credit history. Chances are, your fraudster will have missed a step or two. Don’t let them off the hook by allowing them to leave blanks on the rental application or avoid your questions. Require backup documentation to verify the application, like pay stubs and bills showing the mailing address.
Keep the pressure up and they just may crack.
Verify Contact Information on References
Before you call a reference at the phone number provided on the application, check the number against the phone directory to be sure the name and address matches up. If you have caller ID on your phone, leave and message and ask that person to call you back to see what name shows up.
You may get more information through role play. When speaking with a previous landlord, tell them you are calling about the apartment they have for rent – your applicant’s old place. They may tell you they don’t own a rental, or hang up.
You can also make up some fact about the rental and claim the applicant told you this. If your ‘landlord’ confirms the story, you know you are dealing with a con.
Another fraud-busting technique is to ask the reference for info that a poser might not know, but the landlord surely would – the zip code, the total number of units, whether there is on-site laundry.
Cross-Reference Tenant Screening Reports with Application
The value of tenant screening reports is twofold: first, you find out things about your applicant that they haven’t told you. But you also obtain information that you can use to cross-check against the rental application and the supporting documentation you were given by the applicant. A tenant credit report along with a pay stub or utility bill may give you clues that your applicant is not the person who they pretend to be.
This post is provided by Tenant Verification Services, Inc., helping landlords reduce the risks of renting with fraud prevention tools that include Tenant Screening, Tenant Background Checks, (U.S. and Canada), as well as Criminal Background Checks, and Eviction Reports (U.S. only).
Click Here to Receive Landlord Credit Reports.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this post in not intended to be construed as legal advice, nor should it be considered a substitute for obtaining individual legal counsel or consulting your local, state, federal or provincial tenancy laws.
