Multifamily applicant fraud is becoming a widespread challenge for the industry as fraudsters become more inventive, according to the State of Applicant Fraud Report from Snappt, an AI document-fraud-detection company for multifamily property managers.
The report exposes the alarming rise of sophisticated fraud tactics targeting multifamily properties, highlights vulnerabilities in traditional verification systems, and introduces actionable solutions to protect your business, according to a release.
Using AI To Sneak Through Leasing Process
The release says fraudsters employ a range of tactics to sneak through the leasing process:
- Some manipulate documents directly in the form of first-party fraud
- Others take a third-party fraud approach by impersonating another individual on their documents
- In addition, applicants are utilizing AI technology to generate entirely fake documents and synthetic IDs from scratch.
These tactics come at a time of high housing demand and the climbing rate of rental costs. In tandem, the digitization of rental applications has made it easier for applicants to remotely submit falsified documents, making it harder for property managers to verify their authenticity.
As part of this report, Snappt surveyed 900 property managers to gain insights into their daily challenges. They learned that 72% believe that multifamily applicant fraud is just as much of a problem this year as last, while more than 60% ranked security and accuracy as their top priorities.
The release says multifamily organizations must invest in a multi-layer fraud-defense system equipped with document-fraud detection, ID verification, income verification, threat-list checks, and a fraud forensics team.
“Fraud is evolving at an unprecedented rate, putting immense pressure on multifamily property managers to keep up,” writes Daniel Berlind, CEO of Snappt, in the release. “Our latest report and new solutions empower the industry to tackle fraud head-on while maintaining a frictionless application process for prospective renters.”
To read the report, visit www.snappt.com/blog/applicant-fraud-report.
