A tenant sent me a fake document - what would you do?

Question

Hello Everyone and thanks in advance for any advice.

A new tenant moved in last Sunday (The tenants are two married girls if that matters). My agent who is responsible for finding the tenant and screening provide me today with the documents and while reviewing the documents i realized that one of the tenants pay stubs is forged.

What would you do? wait and hope they will pay on time and not trash the place? Confront them?

Jo W. · Answer

Thank you everyone for your replies.

At this point i think i will have to agree with @Kyle J. and @Linda S. I have a security deposit and last month rent so i have more control and the eviction process here is very quick. The agent agreed to return his share and a promise to do a better job and if it comes down to eviction he will find a new tenant for free.

Also next time i will be reviewing all the documents before signing a lease and not taking my agent word as granted.

"Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes"

Michael Jones · Answer

Terminate the lease immediately and evict if needed.

I know that sounds extreme but they lied to you and signed a contract with you for the largest bill they have each month. This will not end well so I would want it to end on my terms, not when they decided to lie again.

Linda S. · Answer

@Jo Weiss,

The person you should be mad at is the PM who obviously didn't give 2 craps about doing their job, because that's what screening is-- checking and verifying.    Fake pay stubs come in all the time,  this isn't rare--  it just shows poor work ethic of your PM.

As others have said, I don't think you have any legal grounds to evict, as you have signed a lease.  You can try and go on the basis of fraud, but at this point,  your best option IMO is to wait and see if it works out.   Married couples tend to be more stable, so I'm sure it will work out.  Since it's a married couple,  I don't know the specifics, but you might not even need the fake income?

No reason to confront the tenants now-- again you should be confronting your PM about being negligent-- try getting $$$ back!   If you paid for the placement, I'd try getting a portion back based on the fact they didn't properly screen.

Kyle J. · Answer

That's the type of thing that should have been caught during the screening.  Since you've already signed a lease with them AND they've moved into the house, you likely don't have any legal grounds to do anything about it now.  Usually you can only evict for failure to pay rent or breach of the lease.  Doesn't sound like they've done either of those things yet.  Either way, at this point, no sense spending money to evict since they're already in the place.  Might as well wait and see if they pay.  I'd just wait and see how it plays out at this point and have your agent do a better job BEFORE signing the lease and letting someone move in next time.

Just my two cents.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

I agree with everything here, but it does also need to be addressed with the tenant. The reason you need to address it is so that they don't think in the future it is ok to lie. You basically say, "We are aware this document was not legitimate, but it got through our screening by accident. We are willing to give you a chance to prove you will be a good honest tenants. That being said, we need you to acknowledge that you will be honest in all future communications." At that point let them talk and just move on from there. PM is the one who needs to have this discussion.

Damaso Bautista · Answer

@Jo Weiss

The screening process is supposed to occur prior to the tenants moving in.

I would fire the person responsible for the screening process.

They are the one who placed these applicants in your rental.

Adam Johnson · Answer

I would contact the agent and their broker immediately. They were negligent, they did not act in your best interest if they represent you. You may also want to consult your attorney on that matter.

Regarding the tenant, it probably won't end well, but I would confront them immediately as well to try to determine why and what to do now.

Not giving legal advice, but strongly recommend you get some. There may be potential to recover damages from the agent if they occur.

David Dachtera · Answer

Yes - I'd agree that you need to nip this ASAP. The tenants have an honesty problem, negligence in "the chain" not withstanding. You need to address it quickly.

Your RE attorney should be helpful at this point, I would think.

Theresa Harris · Answer

Talk to your property manager.  They should have called and verified the pay stubs.  I agree that being dishonest at the outset is not a good start and likely you will have problems later on.

Ned J. · Answer

I'm with Joe.... its too late now and all you can do is deal with the F-up by the PM and inform the tenant that you are aware of the issue and they are on a "very short leash". I don't see the point in evicting them now..... they are in...... but be prepared for that coming, but hope for the best for now

A tenant sent me a fake document - what would you do?

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