Nearly all tenant screening services and property managers have encountered falsified financial documents over the past year. Here’s how direct-source data offers a solution.
It’s no secret that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools are radically transforming the way businesses work. In many cases, these tools have a positive impact. They can boost efficiency and productivity, accelerate product development, and identify opportunities for growth and innovation among vast amounts of data.
But there’s a down side to GenAI, too, particularly when it comes to its ability to mimic the appearance and content of official documents—in other words, to facilitate fraud. Recent studies show that document fraud is an intensifying problem, increasing by 79% in 2022 in certain sectors and doubling in 2023.
Document fraud is particularly rampant in the multifamily housing space. Over the past year, 93.3% of all property owners, developers, and managers have experienced at least one fraud attempt, with 84.3% specifically encountering falsified income and employment documents.In part, this comes down to harsh economic conditions, with limited supply, high demand, and surging prices for rental properties driving up competition among prospective tenants. But it’s also being fueled by advances in GenAI, which are making forged paystubs and other financial documents much easier to generate and much harder to identify. This makes it tempting for applicants to misrepresent their income to improve their chances of approval.
Meanwhile, many tenant screening providers don’t have a document fraud detection solution in place. Even those that do often rely on conventional anti-fraud tools that fail to catch smarter, GenAI-modified records.
To overcome these challenges, screeners need easy access to trustworthy data sources and legitimate documents that paint a true picture of an applicant’s finances.
They can turn to tech-forward, direct-source data providers that connect them directly to the system of record and pull accurate information straight from its point of origin—before GenAI has a chance to intervene.
The threat of GenAI-enabled fraud
Today’s GenAI models have a more sophisticated understanding of human language and design.
That means even the most inexperienced fraudster can use GenAI tools to convincingly alter or forge the sorts of financial documents screeners rely on to evaluate whether a prospective tenant can afford their rent—like paystubs, W-2s, employment verification letters, and bank statements.
For tenant screeners and the property managers they serve, accepting fraudulent financial documents can invite several negative consequences, including:
How stronger data can help
Direct-source data providers have stepped in to address rising rates of document fraud and right the course for tenant screening services, property managers, and other housing professionals.
These platforms connect screeners directly to the system of record—that is, the single source of truth that stores required financial data and issues related documents. This could be an applicant’s employer, payroll provider, or bank account. From there, they pull and deliver verified financial data that screeners can count on to be 100% authentic and accurate. Some platforms even provide instant access to essential financial documents like paystubs and W-2s.
This has several immediate benefits, including:
How does it work?
Argyle is a prime example of a direct-source, consumer-permissioned data provider that automates tenant verification processes and prevents document fraud.
They simply select their employer or payroll provider from Argyle’s comprehensive data network and log in using the same credentials they input any time they engage in routine tasks like reviewing their paychecks or requesting time off work.
Once connected, screeners get ongoing, automated access to over 170 fields of income and employment data—including gross-pay details like commissions, bonuses, and withholdings—plus the ability to instantly retrieve required documents like paystubs and W-2s. It’s all returned quickly, and it’s continually refreshed to reflect the most up-to-date information.
That not only means tenant screeners can carry out income and employment verifications efficiently and effectively; it also means they can automate rent-to-income ratios and deliver more reliable insights—so property managers can make smarter, data-driven business decisions.
And the most important part? Neither ever has to worry about forged paystubs again.
Ready to fight fraud and take your tenant screenings to the next level?
Reach out to Argyle’s expert team to learn more about our Income & Employment Verification solution or schedule a demo.
