In the United States there are 900,000 evictions a year, this number is approximately 7 times higher when considering unlawful detainer settlements and ‘cash for keys’. In metro markets, approximately 50% of unlawful detainers resulting in bad debt are caused by application fraud.
The risk of cybercrime has never been higher, however leasing agents are not equipped with the proper tools to detect fraud during the application process.
With acceptance criteria remaining stringent and market rents rapidly increasing, the pressure is increasing for applicants to fraudulently manipulate their self-reported data. It also is fairly simple for applicants to manipulate their documents because technology has grown rapidly available and affordable. Spirited knows that this has become a huge issue in the real estate industry and decided to create a software to combat this issue.
Identity theft has never been easier than it is today, in fact in 2017, nearly 158 million social security numbers were exposed in data breaches. When it comes to the rental market, applicants are stealing identities, creating fake drivers licenses and manipulating bank statements in order to get approved by leasing agents. Without fraud detection software, it would be extremely difficult for leasing agents to distinguish between real licenses and bank statements and manipulated ones. Spirited’s software will be able to tell your leasing office when a photo has been fraudulently manipulated and prevent you from accepting an applicant who is committing fraud.
Without some type of fraud detection in place, leasing agents will unknowingly accept unqualified applicants for their units. This can lead to costly evictions, problems with the tenant, and can overall be a very costly experience. Spirited’s software aims to eliminate any of these unnecessary costs and give property managers some peace of mind.
