Atlanta is now ground zero for a shocking surge in rental-application fraud, with alarming implications for the housing market. As average rents for two-bedroom apartments soar toward $2,000 a month, far beyond the reach of many residents, desperate tenants are resorting to deception, submitting fake documents and fabricated financial details to snag those coveted luxury apartments.
The problem is fueled by social media. TikTok influencers are marketing “rental packages” replete with doctored pay stubs, forged employment letters, and counterfeit Social Security numbers. One influencer boasted about securing approval for a luxury apartment despite a history of evictions and a dismal credit score.
Greystar, the country’s largest apartment landlord, reveals that up to half of applications in certain Atlanta buildings are fraudulent. Kori Sewell, an apartment manager in Atlanta, bluntly states, “Anybody that says they want to move in today or move in tomorrow, it’s fraud.”
The surge in fraud can be traced to several intertwined factors: an oversupply of high-end apartments following Atlanta’s building boom, a drastic reduction in affordable housing, and advanced technology that allows for effortless document forgery. Between 2018 and 2023, this region lost over 230,000 affordable rental units, exacerbating the crisis.
Nationally, a staggering three-quarters of landlords reported a 40% increase in rental fraud last year. Damon McCall, CEO of ApproveShield, warns emphatically, “It’s becoming a bigger and bigger problem coast to coast.”
While fraud carries legal implications, it often goes unpunished; landlords typically prioritize evictions over prosecution. Some scammers pay rent for a few months before defaulting, leaving landlords to bear the financial brunt. Others disappear altogether, as one Atlanta tenant revealed, “Basically, the entire building was filled with people who got in fraudulently.”
In response, landlords are adopting sophisticated verification software to combat the tide of fraud. As fraudsters leverage AI to produce fake documents, detection firms are moving swiftly to counteract these tactics. “We fight fire with fire,” declares Kyle Nelson of Snappt. It’s clear that tackling this issue requires decisiveness and ingenuity.
