Property managers have the often difficult job of screening tenants and qualifying them for housing. That job has become increasingly strenuous today, with the rise of fraudulent paystubs, bank statements, and other tenant documentation. Luckily, property managers can now rely on consumer-permissioned data (CPD) to filter out the fraud and improve their tenant screening processes through automated income and employment verification (VOIE) and fraud-proof document processing.
Today, standard housing applications require records of income and employment to verify a tenant is gainfully employed and able to pay rent in full and on time. Unfortunately, tenants can easily forge their income, employment, and finances in their applications—and, also unfortunately, it’s not uncommon. In a recent study, 85% of property managers report being targets of application fraud, citing limitations of their property management systems to verify provided applicant documentation.
This type of fraud comes in many different forms, but often takes shape in edited and falsified paystubs, bank statements, and employment records. When potential tenants provide PDF documentation, property management systems typically require manual document processing and verification, leading to 1.) inefficiencies including excess manpower and time taken in the screening process and 2.) inaccurately qualifying unfit tenants. More accurate and efficient tenant screening is necessary to save property managers time and money, and to get the right tenants into their buildings. This is where consumer-permissioned data can do the hard work.
Consumer-permissioned data (CPD) uses credentialed (i.e. username and password-protected) data to gain access to the necessary consumer information. For property managers, this means that potential tenants would be required to access their payroll accounts in order to submit their income and employment information directly from the source for the rental application process. CPD platforms, like MeasureOne, use APIs to pull the requested information (in this case, income and employment data) and provide it directly to the requesting party (property manager). When property managers rely on consumer-permissioned data versus other means of collecting and verifying tenant information, they receive fraud-proof tenant screening through automated verification of income and employment (VOIE).
Using consumer-permissioned data allows property managers to take advantage of automated verification of income and employment, driven directly by tenant payroll data. Because the consumer data comes directly from a verified payroll account, the requested data for tenant screening cannot be misrepresented or fraudulent.
Not all applicants will have online payroll accounts. In this case, advanced document processing can serve as a reliable backup solution, which allows property managers to use the verification of other documents, including uploaded bank statements and paystubs, to verify income information for potential tenants. For example, MeasureOne enables document processing by confirming deposit amounts to the applicants checking accounts. Rather than cross-reference these documents manually, verification using consumer-permissioned data will do the work to ensure the income documentation is fraud-proof.
This type of document processing and automated verification using CPD can also be applied toward verifying proof of renter’s insurance for existing tenants. When a tenant provides their renters insurance via a consumer-permissioned data platform, property managers will get access to real-time, up-to-date data with the highest level of accuracy directly from a user's uploaded policy or their online insurance account. Ultimately leveraging a CPD platform is a simple way to keep the tenant screening process free of fraud, but it also is a great way to keep on top of current tenant’s renter’s insurance and other documents property managers might need to manage their renters.
Consumer-permissioned data makes the tenant screening process more accurate and stress-free. Let MeasureOne take the lead for you.
MeasureOne offers low cost, automated, and fraud-proof income and employment verification for tenant screening. Using consumer-permissioned data, our platform connects directly with applicants’ payroll accounts to produce employment and income reports with up-to-the-minute accuracy and offers document processing for applicants who need to upload paystubs or other documentation.
MeasureOne also delivers unique value for property managers including:
Ready to take the next step to improve your tenant screening process?