Atlanta At The Center Of Nationwide Boom In Rental Application Fraud

Atlanta has become the center of a nationwide boom in rental-application fraud, according to a new Wall Street Journal report.

With average rents for two-bedroom apartments nearing $2,000 a month—well above what many locals can afford—some renters are turning to fake documents and fabricated financial details to qualify for luxury apartments.

Social media has fueled the trend. TikTok influencers promote “rental packages” with doctored pay stubs, false employment letters, or fake Social Security numbers. One influencer bragged, “When that apartment package got you approved for your luxury apartment in two weeks even though you had two evictions and a 500 credit score.”

Greystar, the nation’s largest apartment landlord, says up to half of its applications in some Atlanta buildings are fraudulent. “Anybody that says they want to move in today or move in tomorrow, it’s fraud,” warned Kori Sewell, an Atlanta apartment manager.

The WSJ writes that the rise stems from a mix of factors: a glut of high-end apartments after Atlanta’s building boom, shrinking affordable housing, and advancing technology that makes falsifying documents easy. Between 2018 and 2023, the region lost more than 230,000 affordable rental units.

Nationally, nearly three-quarters of landlords reported a 40% increase in rental fraud last year. “It’s becoming a bigger and bigger problem coast to coast,” said Damon McCall, CEO of ApproveShield, a fraud-detection software firm.

Fraud carries legal risks but is rarely prosecuted; landlords usually focus on evictions. Some scammers pay rent for a few months before defaulting, forcing landlords to absorb losses and write off bad debt. Others never pay at all—like one Atlanta tenant who said, “Basically, the entire building was filled with people who got in fraudulently.”

To combat the issue, many landlords now use verification software. As fraudsters adopt AI tools to fake documents, detection firms are responding in kind. “We fight fire with fire,” said Kyle Nelson of Snappt.