Rental application fraud is a persistent hazard of leasing and continues to challenge property agents everywhere. TransUnion commissioned a survey of single-family and multifamily property managers that showed a whopping 97 percent of respondents had experienced application fraud.
Some fraud is the result of otherwise honest rental prospects who are hiding financial strains, and some fraud results from property managers who feel pressure to lower screening standards to fill vacancies. However, the most pernicious fraud is conducted by professional scammers with malicious intent who create fake documents that misrepresent personal financial information.
Bringing leasing forms online and automating the verification process goes a long way to remedy this issue. Unfortunately, even with the digitization of information, property managers must still verify applicants’ identities and verify that their data is accurate.
Identify Fraud Early
The cost of fraud is high. According to a 2022 State of Apartment Tenant Screening Survey conducted by SNAPPT, a document verification company, the average cost of an eviction is more than $7,000. Evictions can take months to resolve and are the single highest cost property managers face.
Vetting rental prospects early, during the application process, is key to avoiding this costly expense.
Today’s leasing agents often qualify rental applications themselves; however, rental housing surveys report that most do not have an application process that flags bad applicants, and 75 percent of landlords blame scam cases on inaccurate screening reports.
In addition, the screening process is very time-consuming, with leasing agents often spending up to 10 hours on rental paperwork.
Minimize Fraud and Accelerate Screenings with Rently’s 3-in-1 Rental Application
The Rently Application reduces the drama of single-family residential property leasing by eliminating the time and hassle of verifying renter information with various third-party service providers.
By combining three critical renter screenings — ID, income and credit — into one automated process, the Rently tenant application is a powerful fraud prevention tool and leasing accelerator.
ID – Using a combination of sophisticated AI, facial recognition and personally identifiable information, Rently can instantly confirm a renter’s identity before a property tour and securely store that data in their application.
INCOME – The Rently Application quickly (in less than an hour!) provides property agents with verification of a prospect’s income, without the need for any manual document uploads. Rental prospects simply add their bank account information to the Rently Application, and the property agent receives an automated income report verified by an industry-leading financial services company. Since income verification usually takes up between 60-70 percent of the entire application process, streamlining just this one step greatly accelerates the entire screening process!
CREDIT – The Rently Application uses TransUnion’s TruVision ResidentScore 4.0™, a credit model specific to rental housing. ResidentScore is the most accurate prediction of the likelihood that a renter will be evicted or “skip” out of their rental unit without paying within 12 months. ResidentScore outperforms standard credit models by 16 percent and can render a decision in 60 seconds or less. As an added bonus, TransUnion processes all credit approvals/denials and shields agents from Fair Housing Act complaints.
The Rently Application can be used for multiple homes under the same management company or brokerage. Similarly, it allows multiple roommates to apply with a single application for a single fee.
Conclusion
It should not be complicated for managers to screen for quality residents. Thanks to Rently’s automated tenant application, single-family property agents can minimize the risk of fraud and lease confidently.
The Rently Application is a “plug-and-play” add-on to existing property management platforms and also an integrated feature of Rently’s comprehensive smart home technology platform.
With Rently, managers optimize the entire leasing lifecycle by using a single platform with a single login to manage all of their tours, applications and smart home devices.
For more information, visit use.rently.com or schedule a demo.