The Future of Employment Verification: Trends Property Managers Should Watch

Thanks to unprecedented applicant identity and income fraud spreading through the rental property industry, tenant screening simply isn’t what it used to be—it can’t be. And neither can employment verification.

Why?

AI-generated pay stubs, false references, and shifting income patterns make it harder than ever to know who you’re actually renting to. Employment scams are on the rise. And now freelancers and gig workers are flooding the rental market with complex income sources that don’t fit traditional verification checks.

For both reporters digging into housing trends and property managers on the ground, the question remains: How do you know rental applicants are who they say they are?

As fraudsters get savvier and technology develops faster, strong employment verification is a vital step in the tenant screening process. 

To paint a clearer picture, we’ve pulled the latest stats and insights shaping the future of employment verification, covering growing trends like the rise in fraud and self-employed workers. Check out the quote-worthy data, get context on why it matters, and see which patterns to watch out for.

Quick Insights

• Fraud is evolving—and fast. Many new AI tools make it easy to fake documents, identities, and employment histories.
• Manual employment verification is still extremely common, but it’s slow, error-prone, and leaves too many blind spots.
• The rise of freelance, gig, and remote work means traditional employment verification methods often don’t apply in these cases—you need to consider alternate approaches.
• AI and automation are transforming how property managers verify employment, improving accuracy rates and speeding up leasing decisions.
• Compliance with fair housing laws is more critical than ever when it comes to screening tenants—and it’s becoming more complex with the introduction of new technologies.
• Modern employment verification isn’t just about speed and accuracy. It’s about trust, fairness, and staying ahead of fraud.

Trend 1: Fraud is Growing and Becoming Even More Sophisticated

Rental application fraud has been on the rise for a while now, but the level of sophistication is skyrocketing. It’s not uncommon for fraudsters to use synthetic identity fraud tactics to slip through the tenant screening process. Or leveraging AI to create fake IDs, forge pay stubs, fake renter references, and more. 

What was once a tedious, time-consuming art can now be done in just a few clicks. Online fraud-as-a-service (FaaS) marketplaces, cheap and accessible technologies—like AI—tutorials, and how-to guides all make committing fraud effortless.

The result? Fraud is getting faster, cheaper, and most importantly, significantly harder to detect. Landlords and property managers are seeing coordinated attempts by both individual fraudsters and organized groups to get past outdated screening systems.

With growing sophistication and fake documents looking more convincing than ever, fraud is wreaking havoc on the rental industry. And traditional employment and income verification methods simply can’t keep up.

Key Stats and Trends

• The NMHC Pulse Survey found that 93.3% of apartment owners, developers, and managers experienced at least one form of rental application fraud over 12 months. 

• Among the NMHC Pulse Survey respondents, 84.3% saw applicants fabricating pay stubs, employment references, or other income documents.
  

• 70% of the NMHC survey respondents reported identity theft, fraudulent IDs, or the use of someone else’s personal details in rental applications.
  

• Only 16% of property managers feel “completely confident” in the authenticity of applicant documents.
  

• A RealPage and Dimensional Research survey revealed that 97% of multi-family operators report that preventing rental fraud is a top priority at their companies. 

• Only 17% of the RealPage and Dimensional Research respondents have a portfolio-wide fraud prevention initiative in place. And only 22% have metrics for tracking rental fraud.
  

• Approximately 70% of property managers noticed an increase in fraudulent rental applications over the past year.
  

• 77% of the RealPage and Dimensional Research multi-family operator respondents say fraud reduced income or increased expenses by 10-20% across their portfolios.
  

• And over 70% of those multi-family operators say they don’t detect most rental fraud until after the residents have moved in.
  

• According to the RealPage and Dimensional Research survey, 42% of multifamily operators lose good tenants due to bad behavior from fraudulent renters.
  

• The NMHC Pulse Survey found that 23.8% of eviction filings are linked to fraudulent rental applications.

Trend 2: Manual Employment Verification is Still Common but Falling Short

Despite the increasing number of innovative fraud screening technologies—like Snappt—many property managers still rely on manual employment verification. The problem? It often leads to expensive inefficiencies and serious blind spots.

While manual checks may feel thorough, they can slow down leasing decisions, frustrate stellar applicants, and miss clever fraud attempts. For property managers, a technology upgrade is more than just useful—it’s urgent.

Key Stats and Trends

• Informed.IQ’s online survey found that 46% of property management professionals say they still conduct renter verifications manually. And only 29% still have faith and trust in their manual screening process.
• Just 28% of the Informed.IQ survey respondents use tenant screening software for applications.
• Of the Informed.IQ survey respondents, 26% outsource screening services to third-party services for rental applications.
• Manual tenant verification usually takes 5 or more days to complete.
• 43% of landlords manually prequalify tenants, either by call, email, or text.
• Humans can detect less than 10% of document fraud.

Trend 3: Remote Work and the Gig Economy are on the Rise

Since the pandemic—and beyond—there’s been a significant rise in the freelance, remote, and gig economy. And this transformation is rewriting the rules of how property managers verify employment and income. 

Flexible work setups might be great for renters, but they can be a challenge for property managers and landlords trying to verify income.

Traditional pay stubs and W-2s don’t always capture how much potential tenants actually earn, since many rely on multiple, variable income streams that don’t fit standard tenant screening processes.

Pay stubs and phone calls to HR to verify employment? They don’t usually apply in these cases. For property managers, this shift means adapting income and employment verification processes to account for variable earnings and non-traditional documents.

Because without the right approach—or tools—it’s easy to overlook a fantastic renter or, worse, miss the red flags of fraud.

Key Stats and Trends

• In 2023, there were approximately 16.5 million self-employed people in the US. That number is only growing.
• 36% of US workers identify as independent (freelance, gig, or contract workers)
• Property managers screening self-employed applicants should request documents like tax returns, bank statements, profit and loss statements, and 1099 forms.

Trend 4: AI and Automation are Reshaping Employment Verification

Since manual verifications are often slow and subjective, more and more property managers are turning to AI to level the playing field for income verification. As well as speeding up the tenant screening process, AI transforms how income and employment data is gathered, verified, and trusted.

Automated tools like Snappt can verify employment in mere minutes by securely linking to payroll or bank data, catching red flags that a human reviewer might easily miss. Still, overall adoption of AI tools is lagging, and many property managers are stuck in the gap between awareness and action.

Key Stats and Trends

• Property managers using AI significantly improve operational efficiency, reducing overall manual processing by up to 80%.
• 54% of property management professionals have no immediate plans for full AI adoption, suggesting a disconnect between awareness and implementation.
• Property managers and landlords using AI tools reduce application processing times by more than 70%.
• According to NAA’s Industry Pulse report, property management teams using AI save up to 10 hours per employee per week and reduce lead-to-move-in time by 4 to 7 days.
• 75% of the leading US real estate brokerages use AI to streamline their operations, with over 80% reporting that their agents have adopted AI tools.
• Snappt’s AI income verification software delivers documentation results in 10 minutes or less.

Trend 5: Compliance Pressures and Fair Housing Laws are Having a Substantial Impact on Employment Verification

Any missteps in tenant verification can unintentionally lead to discrimination and fair housing violations, risking steep penalties and reputational damage for property managers and landlords.

As verification tools continue to improve, regulatory frameworks are catching up. Failures in income or employment screening now intersect with civil rights. Just look at the SafeRent case. They used an AI tool meant to guard against fraud that instead triggered a major fair housing settlement.

It’s clear—verification systems must be fair and accurate. That means choosing platforms that are transparent and consistent, especially when screening applicants using housing vouchers or with non-traditional income sources. Because compliance means more than just following the law—it means being ethical and operationally smart.

Key Stats and Trends

• Tenant screening—including employment and income checks—must comply with the Fair Housing Act, requiring screening practices to be transparent and fair.
• In 2022, renters filed 2,395 complaints regarding source-of-income discrimination.
• That year saw a total of 34,150 housing discrimination complaints, the highest on record for the third year in a row. Income-related screening issues made up roughly 6.4% of all filings.
• SafeRent Solutions—an AI-powered screening tool—agreed to pay a $2.3 million settlement after its screening algorithm unfairly scored low-income and voucher-using renters, violating fair housing laws.
• As a result of the SafeRent Solutions settlement, landlords can’t use AI-generated scores for voucher-using tenants in the US for 5 years.

Stay Ahead of Employment Verification Trends

Fraud is rising. Remote work is booming. Manual checks are failing. And the stakes for both property managers and renters have never been higher.

The facts and statistics show that employment verification is vital for a fair, efficient, and fraud-resistant tenant screening process. So, whether you’re dealing with rental scams like fake, AI-generated pay stubs or non-traditional income sources for freelancers, the classic, manual methods of assessing applications aren’t cutting it anymore.

Snappt offers a fast, accurate way to verify income and employment—so you can detect fraud before move-in day, streamline leasing, and remain compliant with fair housing laws.

Ready to upgrade your employment and income verification process? See how Snappt can help.