A Culture of Lies
Applicants will lie; it’s just a thing they do. Whether big or small, there are bound to be a few on each application you accept. They lie about their criminal history, their residence history, their income, and their credit. But why? The short answer is that they want to look better than they are. The important part for landlords is figuring out which lies are a reason to deny and which can be ignored. First, let’s delve a little deeper into where the lies come up and which are the red flags.
The first place applicants lie is their date of birth and social security number. Most often, people lie about a social to hide bad credit. SSNs can be easily verified through the Social Security Administration’s website. Birth dates are generally to hide criminal history. Both of these are glaring no’s.
The next place that applicants lie is on their residence history to hide their bad history. Either they were evicted, or they owe money to that landlord. An applicant who leaves landlords off of their application will not be a good tenant. This is another glaring red flag and another reason to say no. But, applicants aren’t the only ones who will lie. Their friends and family will lie for them. Family will try to cover gaps in rental history, and friends say they own property that they don’t, thinking it will make for a better reference.
On rare occasions, family and friends will lie, not to cover bad rental history, but to make up for a lack of rental history. This is when family members claim not to be family so a young kid now has rental history. First-time renters generally aren’t a bad bet, depending on how honest they’ve been in other parts of their application. A lie like this is something a screening company would give a definite no to, simply because we choose the most conservative answer.
The next place applicants lie is their income. This is always because they know they don’t make enough money to fully meet the income criteria for the rental property they’ve applied for. This is generally more of a fudge than an outright lie and can generally be ignored. The problem comes with the size of the exaggeration. We’ve had car salesmen list their income based on the most they’ve made in one month instead of how much they make in an average month. Essentially, the bigger the exaggeration, the more cautious you should be.
And the last place applicants lie is on their criminal and eviction history. This is the easiest place to deny someone because you can ask them an outright yes or no question and if the information you and your screening company find doesn’t match their answer, deny. With this category, there isn’t one most common reason for lying. Some applicants seem to be under the impression that landlords don’t check criminal or eviction history, or don’t look very far back. We check as far back as records go. Some applicants don’t read the questions they are being asked. These are generally the ones who’ve taken plea deals or settlements, or gone through diversion programs to get charges dismissed and forget what happened. Then you get people who either don’t know or forget what they were charged with.
The last group of people are the ones who know exactly what they’ve been charged with and know exactly what they are being asked, and they lie to you anyway. These are the people to watch out for because they will not be a good tenant at all. They will be the one who gets complaint after complaint, who never pays on time, and who either leaves with no notice and a trashed property or requires hours of court time to get them out. However innocent the mistake though, all of these people should be solid no’s.
Much like lying on a resume, many applicants are under the mistaken belief that the landlord they are applying with won’t verify the information they are being given. It’s not hard to look perfect on paper, but no applicant is perfect. The best way to ensure your time as a landlord is hassle-free is by screening your applicants thoroughly and knowing which lies equal a denial.
DISCLAIMER: READ CAREFULLY: The information provided in this article is not considered legal advice and is given only for information purposes. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF YOUR LEGAL COUNSEL.