Two out of ten files submitted to agencies by potential tenants contain falsified documents, in particular payslips. Faced with this upsurge, professionals are using new software to authenticate documents.
Making fake payslips to increase your chances of getting a rental property: a practice that is obviously illegal but has become commonplace as the real estate market tightens up all over France. After dozens of refusals, some tenants end up tampering with their files. Employment contracts are no exception to the rule, when it becomes vital to transform a CDD into a CDI…
Fraud up 30% in one year
One in ten documents on average would thus be falsified in France, according to a survey by TF1. Double in areas where the rental market is under pressure, such as Corsica, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur, Occitanie, Hauts-de-France or Ile-de-France. A practice up 30% in one year, mostly people with often comfortable but irregular incomes and failed for lack of permanent contracts whose goal is not necessarily to defraud the owner but rather to see their file end up in pole position .
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“I had no chance”: fake payslips, lies… these tenants who cheat to find accommodation
Indeed, the rental market finds itself doubly strained under the impact of a purchase market at a standstill with the restriction of credit offers. Many purchase projects are delayed and rental candidates are flooding in. The properties available are all the more rare as thermal colanders have been prohibited for rent since the beginning of the year.
Too many short term rentals
Another factor accentuating the shortage of properties: some owners, who were doing long-term rentals, now prefer to rent their property to tourists for short periods. A rental method that has the advantage of having a higher return without having to respect the rent control.
For potential fraudsters, tricks are made much simpler thanks to sites specializing in the matter and offering fake payslips or employment contracts for less than 40 euros.
Faced with the scale of the phenomenon, some professionals in the sector have called on companies specializing in the detection of these fraudulent documents. This is the case of the Lille start-up Meelo, which has developed very effective software in this area. In particular, it makes it possible to authenticate, or not, pay slips and identity papers of applicants. Or payslips whose net payable can easily be increased.
The investment of 500 euros per month may be interesting for agencies, while Meelo announces nearly 50% of files analyzed containing at least one fraudulent document.
Bank guarantee or visa guarantee, forgotten solutions
Setting up a false rental file is punishable by three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros, remind professionals in the sector who offer some advice to strengthen your chances without crossing the yellow line.
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Jail, fine… what is the risk of a candidate lying or cheating with a false rental file?
The Les Echos site thus advises to always have a complete file available to submit it as soon as a property interests you and reminds that it is always possible to ask a relative to stand surety or use a paying surety: an insurer who acts as guarantor for you, for a fee.
Other solutions: the Visale guarantee, a free deposit offered under conditions to the tenant by Action Logement, or even a bank guarantee, a system where the bank stands surety if you immobilize an amount equivalent to a certain number of months’ rent in an account.
