Helping property managers minimize losses from fraud
Customers saw a 14% fraud rate and collectively saved $15 million in eviction costs
News Release
Los Angeles – Jan 26, 2021 – Spirited, a leader in real estate technology, continues to grow exponentially as a key enabler of financial document fraud detection. Apartment unit growth of 1400%, customer growth of 766%, geographic expansion to 35 new cities in North America and innovative product development are all contributing to the company growth. With application fraud increasing 9%month over month since the COVID-19 crisis hit, property managers are looking to Spirited to help navigate the current economic climate as well as recent changes to local and state eviction moratoriums.
Spirited’s financial document fraud software helps property managers accurately detect fraudulent financial documentation, identify high-risk tenants and avoid costly evictions.
“Spirited research shows that 21 million fraudulent application documents were undetected in 2020, putting property managers at increased risk,” said Daniel Berlind, CEO of Spirited. “We experienced a banner year in 2020 and continue to grow with a vision to dramatically lower the number of fraudulent applications that go undetected. Helping our customers save millions in eviction costs and minimize risk is our number one priority in 2021.”
“Property managers are a tight group and we talk to each other all the time. I’ve been telling everyone I know about Spirited,” said Eric Johnson, Business Manager at NoHo 14. “I tell them that even if you don’t have a lot of fraud, it’s still a good system to have in place so you avoid the risk.”
Financial Documentation Application Fraud Has Exploded
According to Spirited’s February 2020 survey, roughly one in six applications for residential rental units exhibited some sort of financial document application fraud (altered bank statements, fake pay stubs, etc.). Immediately following that survey, the pandemic hit and government lock-downs led to widespread unemployment. Spirited saw an immediate uptick in the number of applications screened showing fraudulent financial information. In Spirited’s subsequent survey in September 2020, evictions were up 75% from pre-COVID-19 levels, with typical buildings having 15 evictions stacked up awaiting moratoriums to expire.
Property managers reported that nearly a third (29%) of rental applications now exhibit application fraud—nearly double since before the pandemic hit. The program is widespread with 85% of all property managers now reporting they have been victims of application fraud, up from 66% before the pandemic.
“We used to vet applications by hand. That took upwards of three days, and we had a high number of applicants bowing out as a result,” said Nicole Ballard, Community Director at Annadel Apartments. “With Spirited, we’ll submit the resident’s information and we have an answer in less than a day—often in just an hour.”
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About Spirited
Spirited, a Los Angeles based real estate technology company, provides a quick and inexpensive data-driven fraud detection service that accurately spots fraudulent financial documentation. Spirited is used by 5 of the top 6 property management firms in the US.
Press Contact:
Holly Hagerman
Connect Marketing
801.373.7888
