DIY Landlords Can't Verify Tenant Income Identity
34 posts across 4 communities in the last 90 days; 77% from r/Landlord.
“I would not lean on "show me every cash business and every brokerage login." That turns into a fishing trip and you still cannot prove the cash. For self-employed applicants I ask for tax returns or a CPA letter plus a few months of statements with the account number blanked…”
“I recently had a similar experience like this and it ended up not so well. I don't know if your applicants are mature enough to sustain a self employed career. Savings need to be verified on a 3 party call with the bank. Ask him to provide mortgage statements and his house sale…”
“And to think, in Los Angeles they want to make it where a landlord cant deny an application due to a previous eviction or even because of a background check. They think it makes it too difficult for deadbeats or criminals to get housing.”
Screening applicants without tools they trust: 1099 and no-tax-return applicants, forged paystubs, unreliable online background checks, guarantor questions, verifying stated income and identity.
SOURCES (60)
“Use Zillow to list only. Never to qualify. Use something like National Tenant Network for background checks. Zillow background checks are horrifyingly inadequate. Because potential tenants pay Zillow once for the ability to send their application to any Zillow listing, they are very motivated to…”
“I would not lean on "show me every cash business and every brokerage login." That turns into a fishing trip and you still cannot prove the cash. For self-employed applicants I ask for tax returns or a CPA letter plus a few months of statements with the account number blanked, balances visible, and large deposits explained. Investment-income claims need brokerage statements or a letter from the advisor, not a screenshot of a phone app. If they refuse any verifiable path, that is your an”
“Anyone can make a tax return and sign it. You don't get it from the IRS; you send it to them. There's no way you can verify it was filed directly as a landlord. The documents people present as a "copy of their tax return" are not verifiable alone.”
“You can't verify income from under-the-table sources. It isn't possible. For legitimate self-employment, you can look at tax forms, ledgers of income, bank statement deposits, and invoices to clients. Some of these are more reliable than others and work better together. Keep in mind that self-employed folks may have significant seasonal variations, are more likely to lose income if injured, and are more likely to have gaps between contracts. You can't just look at the most recent mon”
“Ask for proof of business formation / registration jf its relevant. There are plenty of sites that will access the people’s bank accounts, with their permission. And then give you a report on the cash flow. And give information on deposits. It also gives data on expenses but I tell potential tenants I don’t need the expenses. This is better than the statements because they can lie. If you don’t trust the tax returns, you can get reports from the irs that state annual income. (Again with their pe”
“TLDR: How do you validate income from rental applicants that have cash only businesses or claim to live off their investments and savings? This time around with my open vacancy, I had a handful of prospective tenants with self-employment income. A woman with a cleaning business, two different independent contractors, and another person who said they lived off stock market investments. The cleaning lady and contractors hinted they operated mostly as cash only businesses. I can relate, because I p”
“I usually respond, "Give the applicant my contact information". I won't rent a place to someone who has not personally come and seen the rental.”
“A guarantor addendum should be included as part of the lease. You don't want the tenant to have a valid lease without the guarantor, and the guarantor has to approve the lease because that's the terms they're guaranteeing. It does not really make sense legally for it to be an independent contract. The way I do it is: Only the tenant is named as a resident, but the guarantor gets a signing line on the lease body. A guarantor addendum is included calling out the guarantor's specifi”
“I recently had a similar experience like this and it ended up not so well. I don't know if your applicants are mature enough to sustain a self employed career. Savings need to be verified on a 3 party call with the bank. Ask him to provide mortgage statements and his house sale escrow information Don't get prepay rent. When it ends up badly a prepay rent makes issue complicated. In general, those self employed people can be fuzzier than W2 guys because they are home all days.”
“1099 income isn’t “shaky.” Independent contractors don’t get paystubs. He has enough money to pay rent for years, a quite high income, a strong professional background to continue getting income, great credit score. Genuinely what do you think can possibly happen to make him unable to pay rent?”
“One of the applicant is self employed, had a business last year and changed to real estate this year”
“One of the co applicants was a business owner until mid 2026, pivoted to real estate after that”
“One of the applicant is self employed, had a business last year and changed to real estate this year”
“If he’s really lived where he has for 5 years with no lates and there’s not other applicants, I’d consider”
“I’ve only requested tax returns when the applicant is self-employed. The purpose is to verify income, which can usually be done via pay stubs, W2s, and bank statements.”
“Could you clarify what you mean as bar for other requirements? What are the unintended consequences?”
“I own rental property in an area where Section 8 vouchers are commonly used, so from a practical standpoint I would look at this as two separate issues. First, have clear written screening criteria and apply them consistently to every applicant. If someone doesn't meet your lawful requirements, whether that's income, credit or another requirement, handle the denial according to the laws that apply where the property is located. I wouldn't change the criteria from applicant to applica”
“Credit score is an excellent indicator of the ability to pay rent. It means you honor your obligations in a timely manner.”
“How difficult is it to ensure you would not qualify for rental assistance tenants? No exhaust fan in the bathroom kind of thing? "so sorry- my unit doesn't meet the standard"”
“I’m currently working for a Class C apartment community that requires 12 months of employment as part of the screening process. None of the other communities within our comp set are requiring this. I’m struggling to keep the applicants interested and not getting discouraged to the point of giving up and moving onto the next property. Most of the people that stick with it until the end are people that have credit/background issues that disqualify them in the end. Is this normal to demand 12 month”
“What income verification do you request from a business owner, and do you have a specific request form or verbiage? submitted by /u/DangerLime113 [link] [comments]”
“Virtually all my applicants are young professionals so student loans is one I typically look the other way on assuming everything else is good. I haven’t encountered an applicant with bad credit due to medical debt yet but I would probably give them similar leeway.”
“I have had this twice. I out the parent on the lease just like the occupants. Both times the tenant defaulted and the parent ghosted. One of them only had a 6 mo lease because I had a feeling about it but it was middle of winter, we had no other applications, and the owner said to rent it to them if they paid an additional deposit. Fortunately I was able to thug it out for 6 months and non renew at a better time of year to find tenants. I had even told them when I initially offered them the leas”
“You need to start interviewing property managers immediately. PMs need to be trained. Unfortunately, you won't know the proper questions to ask, or time to train. Find out what criteria they use for applicants. Do they have electricians, plumbers, handymen avail. Do they accompany all applicants to view the home? Take move in photos? Move out photos? How do they deal with a tenant who complains about every thing? Do you want the tenant responsible for lawn care and filter changes? What happe”
“I just list the minimum credit score & rent to gross income at the bottom of the description in the listing.”
“yes, list it as an exhibit in the lease, and have the guaranty name the lease by address and term so the two point at each other. also say whether dad covers the full rent or only his son's share, and get his signature again at renewal.”
“Thank you I’ll do that. Do I mention anything about a guarantor on the lease agreement itself?”
“Just write up a separate one-page financial guarantee document for the dad. They are not a tenant and do not enjoy the rights of a tenant. They are simply guaranteeing from a financial standpoint. I own property in a college town and do this frequently. As long as the parent has good income & credit, they are good to go. Making the dad a tenant (e.g. signing the lease) opens a whole can of worms and would be ill-advised.”
“No, they are a guarantor. They are guaranteeing the financial aspect of the lease. While you don’t have stringent tenant protections as we do in California you never want to make someone a tenant that isn’t going to be subject to all aspects of the lease nor who anyone really wants to claim possession of the unit. Do yourself a favor and join one of the Tennessee rental property owners associations. They are amazing and will have all the forms you need to protect yourself and your asset. https:/”
“Is the parent also in TN? If they are remote then it's going to be more trouble enforcing any judgement. In California I think we have "tenants" and "co-signers" (non-tenants). I'll take guarantor as a synonym for co-signer. But a tenant / co-tenant is still just a tenant. The argument for making the parent a tenant is that you can get a judgement/eviction with a single action. If the parent is a co-signer you might need a separate action outside of the eviction to ge”
“Renting a 2bd 2ba apartment to two unrelated roommates. Both mostly qualify, but one has thin credit, so his dad offered to back him. Should I have the dad as a guarantor or co-signer? My understanding so far: a cosigner signs the actual lease and is liable from day one, while a guarantor signs a separate agreement, isn't a tenant, and only owes if the tenant defaults. Leaning guarantor since dad isn't moving in, but before I lock anything in, wanted real experience from people who'v”
“online screening can be useful starting point but verifying relevant court and rental records independently is still worth considering.”
“My recommendation. Hire a trusted well respected management company to handle tenant screening, Rent collections and maintenance. Doing these activities from out of state can become problematic. Make sure you conduct social media searches for feedback surrounding the company you may retain.”
“The safest approach is to have written screening criteria before you start reviewing applications and apply the same criteria consistently to everyone. If an applicant doesn’t meet the criteria, I simply tell them that they weren’t approved because they didn’t meet the rental qualifications. If the reason is something objective like income below 3x rent, credit below the stated minimum, or insufficient rental history, I’m comfortable stating that but I don’t get into a long back-and-forth or giv”
“This is correct. However, before you take an adverse action (reject their application) based on their credit or background check, you must send them a pre-adverse action notice and why, which gives them the opportunity to challenge the information that caused you to reject them. Which includes providing them with a free copy of the report and where you obtained it. They can challenge it the facts, for example that’s my cousin Vinny’s report not mine, you must your expense reinvestigate, but they”
“According to the laws of my state (WA), I have to provide an affirmative reason for rejection. I follow the template and e-mail it to the applicant and move on. RCW 59.18.257”
“I work in Sacramento and Roseville Ca and from my experience it is crucial to hire a really good PM company. I deal with this situation a lot where PM do nothing but collect money. There is more to it like serious tenant screening and periodic inspections. Look for stability like same job and same income for 2 years plus, obvious deal breakers are evictions. Google the tenant and check youtube. I have found serial squatters on line this way. Strong income the type that could actually qualify to”
“One thing that cuts down on how often you're in this spot: put your actual minimum criteria (credit score, income multiple, etc.) right in the listing itself, not just something you mention after they apply. Unqualified applicants self-select out before wasting your time or theirs, and it's a lot easier to point to "didn't meet the published criteria" than to explain a rejection after the fact.”
“I decline the application through the online portal I use and then send an adverse action notice based on screening/credit from Transunion - which provides the core of the credit/background check I run on prospective tenants. An AAN should allow them to get a free copy of their credit report. Then I block contact. Importantly, I DO allow tours before people apply and during the tour we lay out our requirements - it’s rare that I have to decline an application for not meeting requirements.”
“I use Judy records. It’s free but you gotta play around with your search criteria.”
“Definitely hire a property management company. You need someone who can monitor your property, supervise maintenance and collect rent when it is due. If I’m not mistaken, they can also be responsible to rent the place to a qualifying applicant. But they will be your eyes and ears and will conduct the business you would do while you are out of town.”
“And to think, in Los Angeles they want to make it where a landlord cant deny an application due to a previous eviction or even because of a background check. They think it makes it too difficult for deadbeats or criminals to get housing.”
“When I was refining the authorized occupants and guest clause language recently in our lease template, I phrased it so that landlord * may * require an applicstion and background check for any adult who has stayed over the visitor limit, and may require they be placed on the lease, because of the situation where an adult child moves back in with a parent. I might not want that adult on the lease as a full tenant, I might want them just as an authorized occupant.”
“This is a cure or quit situation. You either want them on the lease or you want them gone, you either want them to do a background check or not, you either want to increase the rent due to the other person or not.”
“I always call references, but I'm dubious how much protection it provides, since I don't really have a way to verify the phone number they gave me for a reference is actually their previous landlord. Employer is much better, since you can call them directly.”
“Go in person and get a copy of everyone’s ID for your files and get to the bottom of the situation. You are allowed to verify who is staying there, who is in the lease, who is the financial guarantor, etc. Do the legwork then you can decide if you want to renew to any of them.”
“Are they paying rent? If so, unsure if a notice of non renewal is gonna fly, a holdover case could work but would be expensive and if they pay rent, is it really worth dealing with all the trouble. My thought is ask for the moms financials and see if she qualifies to be the guarantor and any adults who live there are background checked. Then go back to collecting your rent checks.”
“It depends on your rental agreement. 1. If they break the lease LL normally keeps the deposit. 2. Or the tenants must find someone to take over the lease and get the deposit back. 3. If there is a guarantor, then the guarantor is liable to pay for the rest. But again, it depends how things were worded in the lease. Retaining an attorney for this, is a bit too much. Keep the deposit and wish them well. They seem to be honest and decent. They could have squatted your place instead.”
“The best background checks have been just actually calling their references and place of employment.”
“Agree, 100% I recently had one of the worst experience experiences ever as a landlord due to using Zillow background application applications. When I let them know about it, they said that they firm it out to a third-party like that some sort of excuse. The other side of it is Chicago needs to be fair about what they’re putting out there for landlords and they’re not. You have to think outside of the box and what I’ve learned one person told me was don’t just look for evictions look for “ filing”