According to an online platform which advises landlords operating in the private rented sector, half of all fraudulent tenancy applications involve faked or forged payslips.  The landlord advice site has issued a warning to landlords to remain vigilant, but this situation also has implications for people who are considering moving into a new rented home, and who are expecting to go through the identity check and screening to be accepted by a landlord or letting agency.

Managing Tenancy Fraud

The landlord advice site looked at over 300,000 tenancy applications last year and found that fraudulent applications only accounted for 0.3% of all applications for a tenancy, so the problem is not so widespread as tenants or landlords may have feared. However, although only one in 1,000 applications was fraudulent, 54% of these cases included pay slip fraud.

Spotting Forged Payslips

If you are applying for a rented property, the first check you will come up against is the Right to Rent check, where the landlord or letting agent has to check that you are in the UK legally. This level of checking is legally required, and landlords found to be letting to people without the legal right to be in the UK face heavy fines. If you pass this check, the landlord or agent may then want to run other checks such as credit referencing checks or asking for references from previous landlords. Checks are increasingly done using AI-driven ID verification tools and credit referencing software to try to catch any potential fraud. Even if a fake payslip might appear genuine on initial inspection, red flags may be raised if the applicant’s credit check shows high levels of debt, or they appear to have no income other than benefits.

Landlords will also be checking the payslips carefully for both obvious and harder to spot errors. Mistakes like spelling errors, badly altered dates or numbers can usually be picked up easily. It can be harder to notice that a tax code doesn’t seem to be correct for the level of income being declared, or that the deductions from the gross pay don’t match the nett pay. Do not be surprised – or offended – if your landlord or letting agent wants to ask an expert to look at your payslips as a further level of checking.

Technology in Tenancy Checking

Fraudsters are getting increasingly with their methods and landlords and agents have to be one step ahead at all times. It’s no longer enough for them just to rely on their gut instinct or experience when looking at documents which tenants provide. Many agencies are therefore using a third party expert company for tenant approval, and these organisations can run credit checks, look at references and verify other personal information which a tenant has provided. Having your details referred to someone else for checking doesn’t mean your landlord thinks you have something to hide, it’s standard practice. The landlord should be open about what they are checking, and get your permission to send your details on.