What if someone uses your identity to rent an apartment and gets evicted? This could be the biggest nightmare of your life. This can happen to anyone. This type of fraud is known as lease applicant identity fraud and such a case grows in significant numbers.
Many apartment property managers lose thousands of dollars for such kinds of identity theft fraud.
You may encounter two types of identification frauds that you need to be aware of to save yourself which are:
- A person who is seeking a rental apartment uses a fraudulent identity to hide his/her original identity.
- He seems unclear on his intentions and tries to turn things around.
Table of Contents
Why Does Fraudulent Use Someone Else Name To Rent An Apartment?
There are two main reasons behind this:
- They do this by nature. Maybe they want to live rent-free until evicted.
- Many people do this due to their compulsion. Might be he is an immigrant, jobless, have a poor credit history.
- Some people are habitat fraudulent, they are criminal-minded, evicted, and do this intentionally.
Some other people who rented an apartment using someone else identity, pay their monthly rent on time because their intention to rent an apartment is not wrong and they are not criminals.
If You Don’t Want That Someone To Use Your Name To Rent An Apartment Then You Have To Beware Of These Type Of Fraud
Many property managers have to be aware of these types of identity theft fraud to save themselves from these kinds of fraudulent activities.
1. Fruad As A Frist Person
A person other than a tenant, meet the property manager, for renting an apartment to someone else using his/her Id. When the property manager tricked another person move in. The bad thing is the identity information is different from that person. This type of identity fraud is called first-person fraud and you have to be aware of them.
2. Fake Id Fraud
Fake-Id frauds grow rapidly and you have to be aware of them. This type of fraud is done using a fake ID. Scammers arrange a fake id from multiple stolen resources. Innocent children, elderly people, and sick people are easy targets of them.
According to some reports around 85% of frauds are committed using fake-id.
3. Fraud Using Third-Party ID Unintentionally
Such types of scams are committed using the personal information of a person unknowingly to rent an apartment on lease for someone else. They steal personal information such as DOB, social security number, etc.
4. Alter Someone Id
In this method, a scammer alters some details of someone’s Id to confuse the system. So that it becomes difficult to contact the real person for verification. What scammers do is, change their DOB, disappear one number from the social identification number, Misspell the name, etc.
All these types of scams are very common these days and you have to be aware of them to save yourself to become a victim of such types of fraud in the future.
According to the consumer sentinel network report of 2021, FTC received 5.7 million fake id fraud cases in 2021 which is 59% more than the previous year.
What Is The Impact Of Such Type Of Identity Fraud In My Life?
- If you’re a victim of identity theft, you could be paying for things you didn’t order. It directly impacts your credit score and it takes a lot of time and effort to get your credit score back. In this situation, you have to inform the authorities of the incident immediately.
- If you are a victim of identity fraud then your name could be added to the bad list, and it creates trouble when you want to rent an apartment in the future. The property manager and landowners may ask you where did you live before.
- How did you leave your old rental apartment, Did you pay your rent previously? Are you evicted or not? these are some questions, and giving answers to those questions becomes difficult if your name is being used by somebody to rent an apartment.
Also Read: How To Prevent Someone From Parking In Your Spot[Solved]
Some Possible Solutions If Your Name Is Being Used By Somebody To Rent An Apartment
- You have to inform the authorities about the incident immediately.
- You can contact these two firms namely credit bureaus and rental reporting firms for help.
- You have to negotiate with the property manager or landlord. They must have met that fraud person. You can send your notorious picture to them. You can also send a sample of your signature as proof that you never took their apartment on rent.
- You should never be late sending all those evidence to the major credit bureaus.
- This can be a game-changer if you prove that you were somewhere else at the date and time when the lease was being signed. You can take your neighbor’s, or friend’s statement that you were with them somewhere else at that time.
All of the above steps might solve your problem and can save you from a really serious and tiresome process of getting justice.
Maybe your record will be cleared after following the above-mentioned steps, but if not then you will have to go through the judicial process by visiting the court.
If you belong to the same city where the incident happened then understand that the landlord has your social security number and he would file a case against you that he rented his apartment without seeing the tenant.
I think you can save yourself by taking the neighbor’s statement that they have never seen you before at that place.
Also Read: How To Prevent Someone From Unlocking Your Bedroom Door[Solved]
Conclusion
Lease applicant identity fraud can happen to anyone. You have to be aware of what you can do to save your credit score and yourself from getting into trouble.
As soon as you find that someone uses your name to rent an apartment, immediately contact credit bureaus or rental reporting firms to hear about your incident.
I’ve mentioned all the possible solutions to this problem to save yourself from such kind of fraud. I hope this article will help you get the right solution to your problem.
FAQ
Q.1 What To Do If Someone Uses My Name To Rent An Apartment?
Ans: The first thing to do is consult these two firms about the incidents. Contact the property manager or landlord where the apartment was rented using your name. Give them the mentioned evidence to save your credit score.
Q.2 How Do Fraudulent Take Someone Id To Rent An Apartment For Someone Else?
Ans: There are five different ways in which fraudulent arrange other people’s IDs to rent an apartment for someone else, some methods are first-person fraud, fake id fraud, altering the detail of someone’s Id, etc. I’ve discussed them in detail in our article.
Q.3 What Problems I Could Face If An Apartment Is Rented For Someone Else Using My ID?
Ans: You can face many serious problems such as a bad credit score, you can be listed on a bad list, you have to face difficulty finding a rented apartment in the future, etc.
