By Ryan Barone
A Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report found that fraud, identity theft and other deceptions spiked 67 percent in the United States between 2019 and 2021. A sizable portion of those descriptions occurred in the rental housing industry, according to Snappt, which estimates that 11 million fraudulent rental applications were submitted in the United States in 2021. Furthermore, its 2022 State of Apartment Tenant Screening Survey found that 85 percent of apartment property managers feel consumers are becoming more comfortable committing application fraud.As a real estate investor, there are many types of rental fraud and scams that can have serious financial and legal implications on your business, which can negatively impact your personal life as well. Prospective tenants may provide fraudulent information to gain access to your property. This includes using false identification or someone else’s identity to pass background and credit checks. Some may falsify employment information or income by using fake pay stubs or employer references to appear financially stable and meet the rental criteria.
