I am reviewing applicants for a property and am wondering how to tell if a pay stub is real or not.  The applicants are claiming that they are transferring from IL to TN and the company is not real friendly with verifying employment or anything else.  Also the work seems like it could be pretty random part time.  Its an inventory company with some major companies as clients.  But the claim is a pretty high salary and lots of hours...which does meet my minimum income level, but with no one to call or verify with the company I want to make sure the pay stubs are real.

Would it be possible (legal) to ask for bank statements for proof of income? Tax returns?

@Lynnette E. I don't think there is any way to authenticate just looking at the piece of paper the ones for sale on the internet are very well done. If the applicants are trying to talk you out of verifying employment the document is probably fake. Personnel and payroll departments get calls and respond regularly. Why would the applicant care if the people are 'friendly'. Yes you could ask for bank statements and tax returns but you can buy those too that is why the follow up calls are vital. If you can't stick to all the steps of your regular process reject the candidate.

Originally posted by @Mark Franklin :

Would it be possible (legal) to ask for bank statements for proof of income? Tax returns?

 I did ask for bank statements.  ITs an online bank and screen shots---too easy to manipulate for me to believe.

Originally posted by @Bjorn Ahlblad :

@Lynnette E. I don't think there is any way to authenticate just looking at the piece of paper the ones for sale on the internet are very well done. If the applicants are trying to talk you out of verifying employment the document is probably fake. Personnel and payroll departments get calls and respond regularly. Why would the applicant care if the people are 'friendly'. Yes you could ask for bank statements and tax returns but you can buy those too that is why the follow up calls are vital. If you can't stick to all the steps of your regular process reject the candidate.

Its a major national company and they do not give out that information on the phone.  They ask you to use a web site that will say  employed with us yes or no for a $50 fee.  I am not wanting to pay $50 for each of them--they both work for the company--for a yes or no, as I still do not know salary or hours.  Its all automated.

On our application it states a minimum of xxx per month in verified income. If they can't verify it, I'd pass. The fact that you're uneasy enough about this situation to post on Bigger Pockets to me means your "spidey senses" have been triggered and you're uneasy about these candidates. I'd probably move on. Now if you do a full background check like through myrental or similar, that brings up a lot of data including income. What's their credit score?

At some point you have to believe what people are saying, as if you think about it - there is no way to prove anything nowadays. 

FWIW, most HR depts will not give out any info re an employee - privacy laws and all. The best you can do is run their credit and possibly get a copy of their tax returns....

ask for a full deposit also. 

Originally posted by @John Teachout :

On our application it states a minimum of xxx per month in verified income. If they can't verify it, I'd pass. The fact that you're uneasy enough about this situation to post on Bigger Pockets to me means your "spidey senses" have been triggered and you're uneasy about these candidates. I'd probably move on. Now if you do a full background check like through myrental or similar, that brings up a lot of data including income. What's their credit score?

His is over 800, hers is low, 599. BUT mainly hers is low because of having 2 auto loans and having a high debt to income ratio. All the bills are paid on time except for a 4 year old medical bill in collections.

Do you have a particular reason you think they're providing fraudulent information?

We require first month's rent, security deposit and any pet fees to be paid prior to move in with cash. That at least ensures a guarantee of some financial means. After that, we don't accept cash for rent, just direct deposits into our bank.

At some point you just have to trust your gut. Assuming you trust nothing they give you at best you can prove they're employed and that's it.