If you are a landlord, then you know how important it is to find trusted tenants who will take care of your property. Sometimes you manage to find such people in a week, while sometimes it takes much more time. Either way, we recommend that when choosing tenants take your time and also take into account all the information about them. Pay stubs are one of the documents that can be helpful when you want to get a better picture of the people who will potentially rent your apartment. Then, you get to decide whether to choose them or not. Because of that, it happens that people fake their pay stubs in order to look better in the eyes of the landlord. If you are wondering how to spot fake pay stubs or employment verifications, here is some more information about it.
Source: Bizfluent
Contents
1. Are the numbers on the pay stub perfectly rounded?
If you try to remember the last time you earned a rounded amount of money during the month, it will probably be difficult for you to recall such a case. Why? Because it almost never happens. If the paycheck stub of the claimant looks too good to be true, it is probably because it is not true. In case you come across a situation like this, you can almost be sure that it is a fake form. And that the applicant had not even made an effort to make the pay stub look credible (although, even if they had, it would not have been commendable at all). Look at the numbers and decide if that pay stub is fake or it is a real one. If you come across numbers like 1000,00 dollars or 10 000,00 dollars, it should be very suspicious to you.
Source: Frank on Fraud
2. Are O’s listed on the pay stub instead of zeros?
If you come across rounded numbers with a lot of zeros, it will be the first sign that the applicant has probably faked his or her pay stub. One of the details that you will want to check further, in this case, is whether they are on the check instead of zero listed o’s? It is very unlikely that a professional who works with these documents on a daily basis will make a mistake, and even less likely that this mistake will appear in several places. How will you notice the difference? The zeros are much more elongated and are more oval than the zeros, which are round. If you dig a little deeper, it will be easy for you to distinguish them. This is one of the clear signs that something is definitely wrong with the document that the potential tenant forwarded to you.
Source: Acutrans
3. Does the document look smudgy and unprofessional?
Considering that the persons compiling pay stubs or employment verifications are professionals, such as accountants and other experts, these documents generally look professional and neat. You will rarely come across pay stubs that have smudged numbers or blurry text. If this is the case with a document sent to you by a potential tenant, consider that it may be a fake. If you want to find out what real, professional pie tub forms look like, click here. Some of the other details that may indicate that the pay stub or employment verification is fake are the unified font and problems with alignment. In case you notice such things on the pay stub, you should doubt the legitimacy of the document and check with the applicant what it is about. And in case you notice any other issues with that person, we suggest that you immediately reject the idea of renting out your apartment to them.
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4. Is all personal information listed and is it consistent on the document?
All documents of this type contain personal information. Some of them are the name and address of the applicant, the company in which he or she is employed, and others. Also, this information is often repeated several times in the document. If you notice that this is not the case with the pay stub you received from the applicant and that some of the personal information is missing, you should consider this as a red flag. The thing that will further increase the suspicion is if the information on the document is inconsistent, ie. differ in different parts of the document.
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5. Contact their employer
While this may seem like too much to some people, it is sometimes a good idea to contact the applicant’s employer. Of course, their employer will not tell you how much that person earns and give you their personal information, that does not mean that he will not provide you with other valuable info. To begin with, by contacting the employer, you will check whether the number listed on the pay stub is correct, or whether the person provided a random number. Secondly, you will learn more about where he or she works and whether it is a real company or they just made them up for the purpose of creating a document. You can also ask the employer if there is an employee with that specific name in their company. This will give you a rough sketch of whether the person is telling the truth and whether the document is original. And if you have already noticed a few suspicious details, this may be the final confirmation that someone has falsified the document and is lying.
Conclusion: It is not easy for landlords to choose tenants and decide to whom they will rent out their apartment. This is a tough decision because the way people treat someone’s apartment is crucial for maintaining the quality of the property. One way you can create a better image of the person who is your potential future tenant is to ask them to forward you their pay stub or employment verification document. This way you can gain insight into that person’s income and conclude if it makes sense to rent them an apartment. Considering that these documents can be easily forged, it is necessary to take the above steps and ensure that the document is original, as well as that the person is honest. Then you can calmly give her an apartment and not worry about whether everything will work smoothly.
