Entrata Blog

The convenience of online rent payments and applications comes with a significant downside: increased risk of fraud. Fraudulent applications can severely impact your business’ bottom line, leading to delinquent rent payments, costly evictions, frustrated residents, and damage to your property's reputation. It's estimated that evictions due to late payments cost an average of $7,500 each, and with millions of evictions occurring annually in the US, the financial burden is immense.

Fraud is an increasingly pressing issue in the multifamily industry, causing significant financial losses and operational challenges for property managers. In a recent webinar hosted by Entrata, Chelsea Hansen, a product marketing manager, and Kyle Nelson, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Snappt, discussed the latest trends...

Fraud is a growing concern for property owners and managers. With the rise of digital applications and sophisticated fraudulent tactics, it's more important than ever to be vigilant. But exactly how common is fraud in the multifamily industry?

Fraud attempts across industries in the US are up an average of 25% this year, and according to a recent study conducted by Entrata, the property management industry is feeling the impact of this rise in fraudulent activity. The survey findings reveal rapid growth in the number of fraud attempts and increased concern about the impact these cases are having on operations. The results provide a unique view into the types of fraud plaguing the industry, the frequency of such attempts, and shed light on ways new technology may help combat these issues.

Having the ability to process rent payments and applications online is a blessing and a curse for many multifamily businesses. On the one hand, it speeds up the process of getting funds from residents into your accounts. On the other hand, it opens the door for applicants to commit fraud by shielding their true identity or by creating an entirely new identity to sneak by your screening process and get approved for a unit they might otherwise have been denied, or present you with payment methods that don’t have the necessary funds.

Every time an applicant submits an online application or a resident makes an online payment, you’re entrusted with valuable information. Each transaction relies on the kind of sensitive personal identifying information that makes our industry a target-rich environment for hackers. When you factor in considerations like the relative lack of regulation around multifamily technology, the wide range in tech sophistication among operators, and the mix of multiple tech providers with properties’ online and paper-based systems, you begin to see how much of a challenge data security can be for property managers.