Hi!&nbsp;Looking for landlords to comment on whether they're seeing more tenants exaggerating income/lying on referencing checks when they're coming into properties.&nbsp;Something along the lines of this: <a href="https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/renter-fraud-apartment-applications-bb3c9c75?st=q7ig1B&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink">https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/renter-fraud-apartment-applications-bb3c9c75?st=q7ig1B&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink</a>&nbsp;Obviously referencing is set to become much more important (and therefore harder to fool?) as the Renters' Rights Bill is implemented, so interested to hear if this is something landlords are seeing.&nbsp;

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Tenants exaggerating income

Some tenants ish their luck as they think they won’t get found out. Also, this can depend on the experience of the landlord. Those less experienced and green will easily fall for things like this and enter a world of pain. Landlords need to educate themselves, more so now with the Renters Rights Act, and be several steps ahead. 

Michelle is fully CeMap-qualified (Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice) and is friendly, approachable and very knowledgeable. With 20yrs+ experience, her wealth of knowledge and expertise is reflective with her excellent reputation locally and nationally as a trusted advisor. She enjoys travelling, spending time with friends and family and walking her beagle, Winnie.

Michelle Lawson

We are seeing some astonishing patterns in our tenant checks. What once involved modest salary embellishments now encompasses fabricated employment letters, doctored bank statements, and entirely fictional guarantors. AI has democratised deception, allowing people to generate convincing payslips faster than landlords can verify them. The Renters' Rights Bill will theoretically strengthen referencing requirements, but sophisticated fraudsters already circumvent these checks with ease. Professional reference fabrication services operate openly online, offering complete employment histories for modest fees. Meanwhile, legitimate tenants with solid incomes are struggling against competition from these fictional high earners. This has created perverse market dynamics where honest applicants are losing out to tricksters, leaving responsible landlords to discover the deception only after signing contracts with people who cannot afford the rent.

With interests across residential housing, spirits, international exports, industrial goods and real estate development, I lead the executive function of The Kushman Group. We are originally professional landlords based in Kent but are now expanding our footprint globally as international exporters and importers aside from international property development and asset management. We proudly own up the often pejoratively thrown term "greedy landlord" as a badge of honour. My team and I work day and night to deliver outstanding housing and value for the communities we serve. We are also taking Britain and British goods to the world.

Kundan Bhaduri

AI could fuel a new wave of tenant fraud as affordability tightens.  As rents rise and affordability is squeezed, it’s easy to imagine a whole new AI-fuelled cottage industry springing up. Hot on the heels of the Renters’ Rights Bill and deepening economic pressures, competition for suitable properties is already fierce. I’m not personally seeing it yet, but deepfake is here, and landlords and agents can no longer rely on what they see. Relying on online checks alone won’t cut it.  A bit of good old-fashioned sleuthing might soon become every landlord and letting agent’s best friend. AI may make fraud smarter, but it’ll also make renting pricier,  tougher checks mean higher costs, and that’s another bill tenants and landlords can’t afford.

Trish McGirr doesn’t do jargon. She’s the strategist corporates, lenders and boards call when financial distress threatens to spiral from balance sheet to headline. Director of Autris Ltd and founder of Repossession Rescue, she has built her reputation by exposing the human cost of debt and the chaos it creates for business. Her authority was forged in governance, first in the NHS, then through national consulting roles shaping policy and strategy. Since 2003 she has also lived and breathed property and finance, advising on distressed assets and risk. That mix of boardroom insight and frontline reality means she speaks with rare credibility on mortgages, debt, consumer impact and the challenges of deploying AI responsibly. Trish doesn’t just comment, she challenges. She calls out complacency in finance and corporate strategy, demanding solutions that balance profit with principle. For her, debt, vulnerability and automation aren’t operational headaches; they’re governance priorities that decide trust, compliance and brand survival. And when financial decisions hit the frontline, Trish is the voice that makes clear: risk becomes reputation, and governance is survival.

Tenants exaggerating income

3 responses from the Newspage community
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Michelle Lawson

Director at Lawson Financial

Kundan Bhaduri

Entrepreneur, Investor and Landlord at The Kushman Group

Patricia McGirr

Founder at Repossession Rescue Network

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3 responses from the Newspage community
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