November 4, 2025
The variety of fraudulent rental functions is rising nationwide in a rental market already burdened by excessive prices and unaffordability.
The variety of pretend rental functions is rising throughout the U.S. because the rental market grows more and more unaffordable for the common American.
Business insiders report a nationwide rise in fraudulent rental functions, with candidates submitting doctored pay stubs, pretend employment letters, and even AI-generated credit score profiles, Fox Enterprise studies. Main cities are seeing the sharpest will increase, with Atlanta neighborhoods like Midtown, Downtown, and Buckhead among the many hardest hit.
“Fraud in rental functions has turn into more and more refined throughout the trade, with among the most superior circumstances involving AI-generated paperwork and fabricated payroll techniques,” mentioned Greystar, the nation’s largest condo landlord.
Faux rental functions sometimes use falsified or stolen info to misrepresent an applicant’s monetary or private background. Frequent ways embrace cast pay stubs, financial institution statements, and employment verification letters.
In some circumstances, candidates create completely fabricated identities utilizing stolen or manipulated private information.
Eric Taylor, head of belief and security at TurboTenant, a free on-line property administration platform, has additionally seen a surge in fraudulent functions. Almost 75% of landlords nationwide reported a major improve final yr, a mean rise of about 40%.
“As rental costs rise, and reasonably priced housing stays scarce, scammers are getting extra refined,” Taylor mentioned. “They’ve really begun utilizing doctored pay stubs, pretend employment letters, and even AI-generated credit score profiles to qualify for luxurious residences they will’t afford.”
In Atlanta neighborhoods with the best incidence of pretend functions, Greystar discovered that roughly half of all submissions have been flagged as fraudulent.
In different markets, together with Durham-Chapel Hill, NC; Salt Lake Metropolis, UT; Portland, OR; Charleston, SC; and Boston, MA, the proportion of pretend functions usually ranges from 14% to 18%.
To handle the issue, Greystar employs a number of fraud detection suppliers, commonly trains its groups, and integrates superior verification instruments into the leasing course of to safeguard each residents and communities. The corporate has carried out a number of layers of checks to determine and forestall fraudulent functions, sustaining the integrity of the leasing course of. Whereas acknowledging that no system is foolproof, Greystar says its method has “considerably lowered the variety of dangerous functions” throughout its communities.
Nevertheless, the rise in rental fraud is driving greater eviction charges, pushing up rents, and inflicting monetary losses that ripple by way of the market, impacting each landlords and sincere tenants.
“The backlog in evictions and tenant safety legal guidelines means many fraudulent tenants keep longer, compounding losses,” Taylor mentioned.
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