It’s each landlord’s worst nightmare: being scammed by their tenant. As if there weren’t sufficient scams round, ripping off landlords is changing into more and more well-liked. Whether or not it’s seeing your rental residence listed on-line by another person or receiving faux employment and monetary paperwork, coping with con artists is among the the explanation why many traders determine that being a landlord is extra hassle than it’s price.
In response to HousingWire, 93% of landlords have found fraudulent tenant paperwork, and 84% have uncovered false revenue or employment claims. Fraud detection and revenue verification software program Snappt reported that 6.4% of rental purposes have been fraudulent in 2024—scams have gotten more and more refined.
Snappt and rentprep.com have listed among the most typical scams landlords want to pay attention to. Nonetheless, HousingWire studies that scammers are evading fraud detection software program through the use of solid pay stubs, altered credit score studies, and pretend employment letters. Mother-and-pop landlords who personal single-family properties and don’t have the monetary assets of bigger residence buildings are more and more within the scammers’ crosshairs.
Profession Scammers
One of the crucial egregious latest scams concerned Russell and Linda Callahan, who have been indicted for orchestrating a rental rip-off that stretched out for 20 years in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Amongst their listing of fraudulent actions have been bouncing safety deposit checks, mendacity on purposes, and defrauding landlords out of over $100,000.
Pretend Landlords
Being a faux landlord is one other well-liked rip-off method, the place listings are posted on social media, and potential tenants hand over 1000’s of {dollars} with no authorized proper to be within the property.
Usually, on-line rental websites like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Flats.com have extra sturdy fraud safety software program in place, with inquiries directed to actual property brokers, however social media websites like Fb Market and Craigslist are the wild west relating to faux listings, as a result of it’s the place smaller landlords are inclined to put up, making them simply searchable and capable of be defrauded.
Rental administration platform Rently reported that, as of 2023 numbers, faux rental listings have led to a forty five% improve in rental rip-off complaints reported to the FTC and Higher Enterprise Bureau over the past two years. Victims usually lose their safety deposit and first month’s hire. In response to a Rently survey, about half of the respondents lose $1,000 or extra, and eight% lose over $5,000.
“As housing demand surges, scammers are exploiting renters’ desperation with alarming precision,” Rently CEO Merrick Lackner mentioned in a press launch. “Past the monetary loss, these scams create lasting emotional hurt, turning what must be an thrilling step right into a supply of stress and heartbreak.”
AI Will Improve Scams
Snappt’s 2024 Fraud Report: Knowledge, Traits, and Methods for 2025 means that synthetic intelligence (AI) will play an more and more vital position in would-be tenants scamming, with ever-sophisticated methods of manipulating paperwork.
“As fraud continues to evolve in 2025, leveraging best-in-class doc fraud detection and revenue verification know-how is the one method to catch these dangerous actors earlier than they lead to monetary losses,” mentioned Snappt CEO Daniel Berlind within the firm’s launch.
The South Is America’s Scamming Heartland
In response to Snappt’s High U.S. Cities for Utility Fraud 2025, Atlanta is America’s No. 1 metropolis for utility fraud, with a 17.9% fee in 2025. Houston is second (16.2%), adopted by Dallas/Fort Price (13.2%).
“Over the previous two years, there’s been a noticeable improve in rental scams, with a larger focus within the Houston space,” Michael Molloy, director of the Texas Actual Property Fee, mentioned in a press launch. “These scams are deceiving landlords, tenants, and even our license holders into fraudulent lease agreements.”
Utilizing an Agent Helps Defend In opposition to Fraud—Typically
The fail-safe method to keep away from falling sufferer to a rental itemizing rip-off as a potential tenant is to fulfill the “landlord” in individual. For precise landlords, utilizing a licensed Realtor is the most secure means to make sure a tenant isn’t a rip-off artist. These professionals have a license to guard and entry to firm software program, which is probably going extra rigorous than that of an investor. Nonetheless, even some brokers aren’t savvy to the strategies utilized by seasoned tenant scammers.
A property proprietor within the celebrity-studded neighborhood of Calabasas in Los Angeles used a good actual property company to seek out tenants for her residence. After they moved in, they filed a litany of complaints, employed attorneys, and instantly stopped paying hire whereas internet hosting events. Inside 4 months, the tenants price the proprietor $100,000 in damages.
“They turned my residence into one in all these megamansion occasion homes such as you see on the information,” proprietor Cheri Woods informed the New York Submit.
One New York horror story, depicted in New York Journal, describes the ordeal of a Manhattan landlord who allowed a seemingly well-paid architect with impeccable credentials into her apartment—solely to have him demolish the inside and demand cash to go away. It turned out he had executed the identical factor to different landlords up to now, however expertly lined his path.
Seasoned brokers ought to now be ready to go the additional mile to display tenants. “Many, many brokers will run a credit score verify on behalf of an incoming tenant, however not a felony background verify,” Douglas Elliman agent Carl A. Ekroth informed the Submit. “When qualifying any potential tenants, landlords ought to all the time insist on each.”
House owners Ought to Oversee Their Brokers
Los Angeles-area actual property investor Jameson Tyler Drew of Anubis Properties advises that landlords shouldn’t rely solely on brokers and may conduct their very own due diligence on the people they rent to vet their tenants.
“I like my occupation, however I would be the first to let you know that there are some folks on this enterprise who shouldn’t be,” Drew informed the Submit. “I’ve seen brokers and brokers knee-deep in all method of scams.”
Methods Landlords Can Defend Themselves From Scammers
So in the event you’re a landlord, how do you be sure you don’t fall prey to those widespread scams? Listed here are 5 steps to take.
1. Strengthen screening and authentication
Demand verifiable ID and revenue documentation. Use instruments with enhanced id verification, doc authentication, and credit score and background checks. Apply AI know-how screening options to flag inconsistencies and determine refined solid paperwork.
2. Know the overpayment crimson flag
When a tenant overpays and requests a partial refund, be cautious. It’s a standard rip-off. Confirm the authenticity with the financial institution.
3. Create clear insurance policies round subleasing, and verify itemizing websites
Keep away from itemizing your residence on short-term rental websites by prohibiting subleasing in your lease.
4. Monitor itemizing websites and model your personal leases so others can’t use them
Watermarking your itemizing pictures is an apparent method to deter scammers from itemizing them on the Web. Make sure to keep knowledgeable about what web sites are posting.
5. Insist on safe fee strategies via verifiable platforms
Keep away from wire transfers, cryptocurrency, and present playing cards.
Remaining Ideas
Verify with native districts in regards to the landlord-tenant insurance policies in your space. In New York, skilled tenants have been recognized to be allowed to stay in flats for over a 12 months with out paying hire. Ideally, nevertheless, you’d have stopped a scamming tenant lengthy earlier than they set foot into your residence.
Typically, landlords are so determined to fill their items that they shortcut the vetting procedures. You might be setting your self up for an entire world of damage. The extra particular documentation you require, comparable to financial institution statements, letters from employers, and background checks, which you can confirm, the extra you’ll deter scammers.
