This publication explains how to lie about income for apartment and get away with it. Of course, you can lie about your income to deceive the landlord just as you can lie to get anything else.
You would not be the first to lie to complete a rental application even though it is fraudulent.
Moreover, circumstances push renters to lie about their income. For example, some landlords will try to raise your rent to the maximum amount you can afford in the next lease renewal. The landlords would typically use an attorney to work the magic.
Perhaps, you are lying about your income to make the landlord think that although you can afford the rent, you manage to make ends meet. This saves lots of money when the renewal comes around, but do not get caught.
How to lie about income for apartment
Landlords typically request pay stubs, income tax returns, or bank statements to verify your income. Sometimes, they review your rental history. A landlord will not take your word for it to give you their apartment.
Do the following to outsmart the landlord and lie about your income for an apartment:
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Determine if faking income is worth it
Some reasons for lying about your income for an apartment may not be worth it. The common reason prospective tenants lie about what they earn or their source of income is to keep the landlord from charging the maximum for the rent.
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If your reason is to pretend to earn more money than you actually earn, it is a bad idea and not worth it.
Also, lying about your income to get into low-income housing is not worth it.
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Know the landlord and apartment
Not many landlords go by what you claim to make, your source of income, how long you have been earning from that source, what you claim to be your rental history, or say your credit is.
If you find a landlord that does not perform a background check or any sort of verification, it gets even easier to lie about your income for the apartment. And if you afford to pay your rent in full when it is due monthly, you get away with the lies.
Do not lie about your income if you apply for federally subsidized housing. You are required by the apartment complex to document your income. So, lying about it to show you make less can get you in trouble if you get caught.
You can be evicted, lose your benefits, and be prosecuted by the state and the federal governments if you are caught lying about your income.
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Moreover, you may be mandated to present your income documents yearly for verification. You will be contacted on discrepancies of as little as $1. If you do not report income for the cash you accept for odd jobs, be wary of your neighbor. They can report you, leading to jail terms.
If you must lie about your income, target nonsubsidized apartments. You need to fake your federal and state tax returns, recent pay stubs, income letters from Social Security (if you are on disability or retirement), or some other documents the landlord requires. You also need to create a fake bank statement for the recent months – some landlords may require it.
Meanwhile, a landlord cannot get information on your account balance. However, they can ask your bank if the check they are holding from you is backed by sufficient funds.
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Create fake documents
You can download templates online for fake pay stubs, fake bank account statements, or any document you want to fake to lie about your income for the apartment.
Some of the templates are free but most are paid. Note that these templates are legal. What makes them illegal is if you use them to lie to get a rented home.
You could also use WordPad to edit the numbers on your pay stub from your current job or bank statement.
Your company or the company you choose as your employer should be a company that refuses to give out personal information about its employees. Some of the websites you would download the templates to fake the stubs, account statements, or income reports also offer services that make them pretend to be your employer in case the landlord decides to call to verify.
The information on a pay stub, for example, is not requested simply to test your memory and penmanship. So, make sure to enter consistent and accurate figures that are not questionable by the landlord.
Some landlords check all information, including verification that the name given matches the phone number and address. This means the phone number and address on the pay stub should correspond with your claims.
Some hard-to-lie-to landlords check your rental history through the landlord/management company with county tax records and also verify whether the name or phone number matches or not.
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Be honest
Like the average honest person, we do not recommend lying about your income to rent an apartment.
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If you have less money for an apartment you want to rent, you want to show your prospective landlord a written budget and how you reduce your expenses to afford the rent.
Make your case and be totally honest. Tell the landlord about all your sources of income, and if you benefit financially from any program, share it with the landlord. The idea is to convince them that you can pay the rent when due.
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Honesty, in this case, is the better way to avoid hurting your public record.
Final thought
Although misrepresenting your income for an apartment is easy to do, you risk losing the apartment if you get caught. The landlord or agent can also note down that you were denied tenancy due to fraud.
Do not rent an apartment you cannot afford to help you avoid expenditures you cannot sustain. Faking that pay stub or bank statement can trap you, exposing you to an economic downturn or misfortune when you can no longer afford the rent.
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