The Rental Application Red Flag Landlords Can’t Afford to Miss

Not everyone who applies for a rental application is on the up and up. Here are the top indicators for fraud risk on rental applications from TransUnion.

Rental applicants with unusually high numbers of recent credit inquiries showed the highest charge-off rate among TransUnion’s fraud-risk indicators, according to research TransUnion released June 17 at Apartmentalize 2026 in New Orleans. 

In fact, rental applicants with 15 or more credit inquiries in the seven days prior to applying for a lease showed the highest rate of charge-offs within one year, at 32%.  In comparison, charge-offs were close to 9% for the overall sample of rental applicants.

“The average rental housing provider writes off nearly $1 million in bad debt due to fraudulent rental applications,” said Maitri Johnson, Senior Vice President and Head of Tenant and Employment Screening at TransUnion.

“These findings help property managers focus on the warning signs most associated with elevated risk and make more confident screening decisions.” 

How TransUnion Identified Rental Fraud Risk

In its research, TransUnion analyzed more than 1.1 million renters who moved during 2024 and tracked charge-offs within one year after moving as a proxy for fraud-related risk.

Through its research, TransUnion identified several fraud indicators that helped to predict negative outcomes such as charge-offs within the year after a renter applied for a lease. The top indicator is having 15 or more credit inquiries in the seven days prior to applying to a lease as mentioned earlier. 

One Credit Pattern Stood Out Above the Rest

Here are the rest of the top five fraud indicators. Thirty percent of rental applicants who listed their current address as a truck stop had charge-offs within 12 months. Twenty-three percent of rental applicants who had eight or more credit inquiries within the past four days of applying for a lease had charge-offs within a year. 

"The average rental housing provider writes off nearly $1 million in bad debt due to fraudulent rental applications." — Maitri Johnson, TransUnion

Twenty-two percent of rental applicants with extended fraud alerts on their credit files had charge-offs within 12 months of applying for a lease. Twenty percent of rental applicants who had a listed phone number as a governmental phone number had charge-offs within 12 months of applying for a lease.

These Major Cities Showed Elevated Fraud Risk

Some major metropolitan areas have higher amounts of rental fraud indicators among rental applicants. These cities include Detroit, Atlanta, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco.

“Strong screening and fraud technology tools are a must in today’s environment for property managers to spot fraud before it’s too late,” Johnson said.

Florida is taking a different approach. According to the National Apartment Association, Florida became the first state in the nation to make residential rental application fraud a crime when Gov. Ron DeSantis approved HB 1293 on June 12. The law takes effect Oct. 1 and classifies rental application fraud as a third-degree felony.

Potential renters that make false statements regarding their identities on rental applications and people who use counterfeit documents on rental applications may be guilty under this new law.

How Landlords Can Spot Potential Rental Fraud

The American Apartment Owners Association offers tips for spotting a bad rental candidate. AAOA recommends landlords look for inconsistencies in identification, background-check results, application details, and applicant explanations.

Meet face to face with prospective tenants. Always check to see if their photo ID matches with their appearance. If it doesn’t match, they may be using a false or stolen ID.

Do a full background check. How old is their bank account? What shows up on their credit report? Do they have any gaps in their rental history? Check out multiple sources to create a full picture of a rental candidate.

Look for a transposed number or omitted information on a rental application. Was it an honest error or was it an attempt at fraud? Ask the applicant about it and gauge their reaction.