You know it can be tough to find your first apartment if you have been living at home your whole life. That’s because some landlords require up to 3 years of rental history, and they verify it traditionally by calling and asking. If you have also historically had bad rental experience, it will reflect in the history, which affects the level of risk landlords consider you to be. So, in this post, we will talk about some of the ways you can fake rental history and get away with it.
It is standard practice for landlords to contact the previous landlord to verify your reference during tenancy screening. Landlords want to know if you paid your rent on time, followed property rules (such as not keeping pets, etc.), or were generally worth renting to at all. If you have a poor relationship with your current or previous landlord, you want to fake the reference to get past a bad landlord reference. In some cases, potential tenants without renting records also falsify their rental records on the rental application.
How to Fake Rental History
There are not many ways to fake your rental history. You just need a reference to pretend to be your previous or current landlord. Do the following to fake your rental history for an apartment:
1. Have Someone Pretend to Be Your Previous Landlord
Choose a friend or a family member to pretend to be your previous or current landlord to meet the tenant screening requirements. You can go a step further and fake your rental history by conniving with your accomplice to set up a fake listing. The purpose of the ad or listing is not to fill vacancies, host open houses, or use other methods to attract renters. It is to make the fake rental history look real enough to thwart the potential landlord’s attempt to verify if your claim is legit. The ad should contain high-quality photos of the interior and exterior. Your friend can use photographs of their current home and pretend to be a private landlord who previously rented their apartment to you.
2. Work with an Agency
The second method we will talk about is working with an online agency to fake rental history. Some online agencies will help you fake your rental history by pretending to be your current or previous landlord. It is simple: search “fake landlord reference service” online for a list of websites offering this service. Pick one with unlimited consulting and assistance from a team dedicated to your project, and they can play the role of your current or former landlord without getting caught. The agency should also offer to play the role of your employer if you decide to lie about your income for the apartment.
Request to fake past or present rental history and your character qualities. The fake rental history vendor will review and rehearse your requirements, which will be provided over the phone to a reference checking service or your prospective landlord. The fake rental history service should have a dedicated phone line or voicemail with your preferred area code.
After the fake rental reference service makes contact with your prospective landlord or reference checking service, you should be sent a summary of the call. Landlord reference services typically cost between $50 and $100 and may include 30 days of taking and making contacts on your behalf, depending on the plan you sign up for.
3. Be Upfront with the Potential Landlord
It is not legal to lie about your rental history; this can be a reason for eviction if your landlord ever finds out. The background check they may conduct if they require up to 3 years of rental history can also reveal your previous addresses, which exposes your lie. Instead of faking your rental record, try to talk to them and see if there are workarounds. Some apartments waive their normal requirements if your credit is good or you can afford to pay a larger down payment. Alternatively, you can find someone else with conventional credentials to co-sign the lease with you. If none of these methods work for you, this place just isn’t for you. You have to look into the many other apartment buildings willing to rent to first-time renters or ones with a bad history.
How a Landlord Checks if Rental Reference or History is Fake
Landlords bust prospective renters with falsified rental history using the following tips:
1. Contacting the Number on Your Application
A landlord can pretend to be looking for an apartment by contacting the number of your former landlord listed on your application. Thus, the person answering or pretending to be your previous landlord must admit that they offer rental properties, but none at the time. Since the person is not truly a landlord, they may say they do not know what the caller is talking about, which gets you busted. So, your fake reference must be aware that your prospective landlord can call, pretending to be a renter, to verify your rental history.
2. Reviewing the Reference’s Responses
Your prospective landlord will listen carefully to your fake reference’s response to know if you are lying about your rental history. The reference should put up the act of a real landlord or just say, “Sorry, no rentals at the moment” to cut the conversation short. Responses such as “yeah, that sounds right” are a red flag. The reference must be confident when speaking to the landlord.
3. Requesting Personal Information for Verification
A landlord calling to confirm your rental history will request and confirm personal information from your rental application with the reference. In this case, prepare a script of typical tenant records, including birthdates, move-in/move-out dates, and a Social Security number (SSN). The prospective landlord may question why you moved from your recent apartment. Your reference should avoid using negative remarks, such as those some landlords use when they try to get a tenant to want to leave. The assessment should not be too perfect. It should be in the form of a simple recommendation.
4. Checking Tax Records
The prospective landlord will try to match the name of your fake reference with public records to know if they are the owner of the property. If the current owner is different, the landlord will know that you are faking your rental history. But this can also mean that your reference is no longer the owner of the property. However, the landlord will also expect your fake reference to know the name of the current owner. They will ask for the name of the current owner to know if your reference is legit.
5. Cross Referencing Phone Numbers
Your prospective landlord may research the phone number of your fake references by name, business, or tax records to check if they match the one you provided in the application. The landlord may also search your reference’s phone number or try to visit their website (since they pretend to be a landlord). Some landlords will suspect that you fake your rental history if they cannot find your fake reference’s website or Craigslist ad posting a rental.
The solution is to list a fake ad, or the fake reference can create a new ad profile. The phone number in the ad should be similar to what you provide in the rental application. Note that some states have online real estate tax information showing property owners.
6. Checking Your Previous Address
Your prospective landlord will check your previous address in the application to see if it matches your credit report address. Your credit report may show your address, according to Experian—past or present—that you listed on an account registered in your name, even if you did not live there. This may include post office boxes, home addresses, work addresses, or the address of someone you have a joint account with. Landlords also use this information to know whether you’re hiding a bad rental history or not.
Conclusion
So, we have talked about 3 solid methods that can help anyone fake rental history and probably get away with it. The third method is the best, which requires you to be upfront with your landlord. If your landlord understands your situation and you are willing to prove that you can be a good tenant, you won’t have issues securing the apartment.
Read Also: What Will Get Your Landlord in Trouble?
