Atlanta, a city once known for its affordability and Southern hospitality, is now grappling with a very different reputation: a hot spot for rental application fraud.
As high-end apartments sit vacant and affordability dwindles, property managers report a sharp rise in applicants falsifying income, employment, and even identities—all in an effort to secure leases they might not otherwise qualify for.
Greystar, the nation’s largest apartment landlord, says up to 50% of rental applications in some Atlanta buildings are fraudulent, according to the Wall Street Journal. Other landlords also see the trend, citing a surge in fake pay stubs, doctored bank statements, and false employment verification letters—many of which are being sold on social media platforms such as TikTok.
Some influencers openly advertise “renter packages” for upward of $1,000, offering everything from fake IDs to nine-digit credit profile numbers tied to near-perfect credit scores.
In one TikTok video, a promoter 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,” according to the Journal.
A market out of balance
A convergence of factors is fueling this trend, including too many luxury apartments, too few affordable ones, and rising desperation among renters who feel shut out of the system.
Since 2020, Atlanta has added 111,000 new apartment units, one of the highest tallies in the nation, but most of that new supply targets the top of the market. Meanwhile, between 2018 and 2023, the metro area lost more than 230,000 rental units priced at $1,500 or less, according to census data analyzed by the Atlanta Regional Commission.
“Anecdotally, Atlanta experiences some of the highest rates of rental application fraud in the country,” Bruce Ailion, an Atlanta-based agent, tells Realtor.com®. “Every property manager is on high alert and proceeds with extraordinary caution these days. Application fraud can range from minor misrepresentations—such as inflating income—to more elaborate schemes.”
“For example, we once had an NFL player submit a rental application accompanied by an offer acceptance letter showing a $175,000 monthly salary. The contract specified that one-third would be paid during the current season and the remainder over time,” says Ailion.
“However, when we verified his employment, we learned he was on injured reserve and earning only a fraction of that amount. Furthermore, if he were unable to return to play the following year, the team would settle the remainder of his contract at a reduced rate. Based on his actual income and existing debt, he did not meet the income-to-rent ratio or qualify for the property.”
Affordability squeeze
The affordability squeeze is also showing up in Atlanta’s for-sale housing market, further underscoring the city’s imbalance between supply and demand. According to Realtor.com data, the median list price in Atlanta decreased slightly in September to $369,800, with a 0.4% decline in the price per square foot compared to the previous month.
That’s actually less of a drop than the national average, which saw a 0.8% decrease per square foot over the same period.
Inventory is also tightening. There were 5,274 homes for sale in Atlanta in September—1.6% fewer than the prior month, though still nearly 15% more than the same time last year.
Homes are taking longer to sell as well, averaging 64 days on the market, which is two days slower than August and 13 days longer than September 2023. For context, nationally, homes spent an average of 62 days on the market in September.
Technology is amplifying the problem.
“Despite advanced screening tools, rental fraud can still bypass safeguards. It underscores the need for in-person identity verification and stronger industrywide fraud prevention measures,” says Ailion. “No property price range is exclusive when it comes to fraud.”
Generative AI, Photoshop, and template-based document forgeries make it easier than ever to fake financial information. And while some property managers are catching on, many still rely on manual or outdated processes to screen applicants.
Snappt, a software platform used to verify tenant documents, reports that landlords now regularly encounter applications that have been digitally manipulated.
“We fight fire with fire,” Kyle Nelson, Snappt’s vice president of corporate strategy, told the Journal, referring to the battle between fraudsters and fraud-detection software.
While some fraudulent tenants stay current on rent—at least for a few months—many default shortly after securing a lease, because landlords often offer one or two months of free rent as a move-in incentive, it may take weeks or longer before they realize something’s wrong.
By then, the cost of an eviction, turnover, and unit repair can run into the thousands.
“Basically, the entire building was filled with people who got in fraudulently,” says Jason Alston, who lived at the Altitude complex in downtown Atlanta, a luxury building that reportedly saw widespread misuse of fake documents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Evictions also leave behind damaged units, unpaid rent, and negative impacts on neighboring residents. Legitimate renters end up paying the price, too, as landlords adjust pricing models based on inflated demand from fraudulent applications.
A two-sided problem
Although application fraud is heavily affecting landlords, renters are not immune to deception either. A 2023 study by Rently found that 93% of renters believe scams are common and 90% fear becoming victims themselves.
Online scams—especially on Facebook and Craigslist—are targeting renters with fake listings, pressuring them to send deposits before they’ve even seen the unit.
The Rently study found the following:
- 70% of scam victims paid a deposit before realizing it was a fraud
- Nearly half lost more than $1,000, and some lost over $5,000
- 88% found the scam listing on Facebook
These scams not only cause financial harm but also erode trust in the entire rental process. Renters blame platforms and landlords alike and demand stronger safeguards. In the Rently survey, 92% of respondents said it’s “very important” for landlords and platforms to use better tech to prevent fraud.
As Atlanta’s housing market remains out of sync—with too many high-end units and not enough middle-income options—fraud, on both sides of the equation, is thriving. Without structural changes to affordability and stronger digital safeguards, both landlords and renters will continue navigating a market where trust is in short supply and risk is rising.
