Landlords Beware: Tenant Referencing Fraud Continues to Rise

Tenant referencing platform Homeppl has revealed how a fraudulent tenant attempted to rent properties from three different letting agents, highlighting the serious challenges that landlords are up against. Whilst the referencing technology was able to thwart the attempts to rent, Homeppl has warned that landlords and letting agents using traditional referencing systems would not have been so fortunate.

Homeppl, the tenant referencing platform powered by cutting edge technology, prides itself on its ability to pick up 100 per cent of all fraud attempts. It has revealed that an attempt was made by a fraudulent tenant in London to rent properties from three different letting agents that used its system.

The platform says that its fraud detection measures were able to prevent the tenant’s initial attempt earlier this year to rent a property using bogus references and documents. It also says that the efforts of the fraudster were so sophisticated, that most landlords and letting agents would probably have been hoodwinked if they’d been using a traditional referencing system.

Three fraudulent attempts to rent detected

The tenant initially approached a letting agent in an attempt to rent a property, but when checks were carried out on his employer, it was found to be a company with zero turnover. A bank statement used to prove financial status turned out to be a falsified image, and email addresses provided had been recently created and hardly used. Furthermore, website addresses given for the various referees were found to be linked to the tenant.

The fraudster later went on to apply for tenancies with two more letting agents in the following months. Those two however, plus the first agent, all used Homeppl for tenant referencing, and so the name flagged up as bogus, resulting in the applications being refused.

No penalties for fraudulent tenancy applications

Homeppl founder and CEO, Alexander Siedes, said that the story demonstrates the lengths some tenants will go to in order to fraudulently rent a property. “Once they are in,” he says, “it gives them the opportunity to commit further offences including illegally subletting or short letting on Airbnb or just to default on the rent.

“Unfortunately, there is no penalty for a fraudulent application, so they will just keep trying. And given most tenant referencing is nowhere near as reliable as ours, it makes you wonder where else has he tried and been successful.”

Siedes says that ‘sloppy referencing’ by some of the larger tenant referencing companies is responsible for the eight per cent rent default rates in the private rented sector, which are reduced to zero by the Homeppl system.

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There is enough to worry about as a landlord, without being defrauded by sham tenants. At homes2let, our property management service covers everything from tenant referencing to maintenance, safety checks, legalities and property inspections, as well as guaranteed rent. With everything taken care of, and your rent paid in advance every month, you can avoid all the usual hassles of buy to let, whilst simply enjoying the income.

To learn more about how we can help you draw the most out of your property rental business, whilst guaranteeing your rent and reducing your risk, you are welcome to get in touch with our expert team.

Rizwan Moledina

Riz is the founder of homes2let and has been in real estate for over twenty years. He has a background in economics and is a real estate developer and buy to let investor.

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