We have a new tenant whom we now believe used someone else’s name/identity

Wire Fraud / False Identity / Los Angeles
Share Group, I need your help. I manage a building in Los Angeles and we have a new tenant whom we now believe used someone else’s name/identity, and is using stolen credit cards to pay rent and the charges are being return and denied. Anyone else have this happen and what action did you take?

Have you contacted the police about it?

I reached out to our Senior Lead Officer and haven’t hear back yet. I would love to hear how these situations were best handled by the group and if there any solutions that work best. We have a small portfolio of buildings in L.A. and believer it or not our management actually hasn’t had this happen before.

yes I just posted about this, happened to me. Because of the mandate we couldnt evict her but I did have our security and police escort her off the property and we changed the locks. Because it was 100% fraudulent on her part we were not in the wrong to lock her out and she was taken to jail. hope this helps.

Jenn Cove what city and state are you?

Jenn Cove thank you Jenn for the input ????

Jenn Cove I also just had one of these! The app and online fees to lease came back counterfeit/fraud and they didn’t pay rent the following month they moved in. We asked the courtesy officer to run the ID we had for him and it came back to no one. We knocked on the door along with our courtesy officer and someone eventually came to the door and said he didn’t know who lived there and he just had a key. The officer told him he could get his stuff out immediately or he would take him to jail. He left and we changed the locks. The officer said that the lease would be void since you would not be able to prove who signed it and the ID is fake.

Yep. Been there.
Caught it the first time, but they tried again at another location with a naive PM and got moved in.
We believe it was same “crew” due to both “leaseholders” being from same mid-western city.
My belief is one of the fraudsters previously worked for a tax preparer and copied/stole IDs and then faked financials (pay stubs from a “law office”, but address was a cornfield).
They even had a stolen notary stamp we latter found out.
Both times, the day of move in the “leaseholder” called and said they “missed their flight” or were “stuck in traffic” and said their brother-in-law was nearby and we had “permission” to give him the keys.
Police we’re contacted, but occupants had between being caught and the police arriving.
We now require to meet the actual leaseholder in person and physically hold and copy their ID before handing over keys.
I also see red-flags when applicants provide TOO MUCH information, or notarized documents when we never required it.

I just talked to our LA City Prosecutor, “ Hi Shawn. Absolutely report to LAPD asap. It sounds like the type of case that may go to counterfeit. They have special detective that deal with these issues. They may not let you report directly to counterfeit but that's where it should end up. Once the report has been taken you should connect with the City Attorney Victim Advocate Crisia Santacruz. I can email you her contact but she'll need a report first. Next LAPD will submit the case for filing. If it goes to my office's counterfeit unit the victim will be able to correspond directly with the prosecutor in the unit”

Shawn, we work with many communities that have that same issue, our service, CheckpointID verifies domestic and international ID's, my email is [email protected] I'm happy to send you information. I'm in So Cal also.

Jones Gabriella I was just going to tag you. ❤

I use CT Credit for background checks. There is an option to add ID check. Confirms that SS # belongs to that person. Also, as I had to do in Houston, Irequire showing photo ID before anyone views an apartment,and copy of photo ID to be attached to application. I know this is after the fact, but maybe those steps will help prevent in the future. Has an added benefit of scaring off those who have evictions on their record, that group wants to rent without showing ID or completing an application. You should have a release signed that gives you permission to do background checks, with language that includes that it can be done at any time, not only at move-in. With that permission,do your research and prove who they really are. If they lied, you now have your backup for terminating Lease. Hopefully you have language somewhere that if they lie on ap or Lease, tenancy can be terminated.

I suggest Checkpoint ID. Nancy Payne is extremely knowledgeable about the Multi-family industry and can assist you to make the correct decision for your community. She can be reached at 888 410 9922. We implemented this system as a security measure to keep our employees safe when touring, now we use for all prospects/applicants.

This actually happened to my husband - his identity was stolen and someone leased an apartment in LA in his name and we notified them when we noticed a credit inquiry had been made on his credit report. We asked why they ran a credit report and they said that he was approved and is living in their community. He told them that the person had stolen his identity and that he was not who he said he was. They eventually evicted him and now the eviction is on my husbands credit. We have contacted the management company all the way up and no one has been able to or willing to assist us. They told us we have to go to court and request the eviction be hidden from his record. The person had a DL with his own picture but my husbands information and social security number. Not sure how this could have been avoided at the time - we now have a lock on his credit, but it did cost us an apartment rental for our college daughter bc of the eviction on record - even though we have lived in our home for 22 years.