FAKE PAY STUBS ARE MUCKING UP INCOME VERIFICATIONS (PART 1)
Part 1
Many managers rely on pay stubs to verify employment for their applicants, and some HFA’s even require it. So we are using stubs to verify employment more than ever before. Savvy housing providers, however, are finding as many as 20% of pay stubs presented are counterfeit. This has become a real struggle for some property managers while others do not even realize it is happening.
To meet maximum or minimum income requirements for affordable housing programs, applicants and residents are providing false information, including fake pay stubs. I am concluding this is happening for a couple of reasons:
Paystub Desperation –
- In some areas of the country, there is a critical housing shortage especially affordable housing. People are going to new lengths just to have a place to live.
- They make too much, so they present doctored stubs showing less income.
- They don’t make enough, so they present doctored stubs to show they make more income.
- They are not even working, but their property of choice has a work requirement.
- They work for cash (under the table), and they or their employer do not want to get caught failing to report the income on a tax return.
Create Your Own Fake Paystub with Ease –
- It’s right at your fingertips. There are 100’s of online sites where you can either forge your own stubs or pay the site as little as $10 - $15 where they promise realistic looking stubs.
- I did it in 20 seconds. Here it is:
Stay tuned for our next articles where we take a more in depth look at what we’ve uncovered including how to detect them, how to prevent them, and what to do if you discover you’ve already fallen victim.
Have you encountered fake pay stubs? Can you share how you handled it?
Did you know that we are approved distributors of the HCCP exam?
Read our entire series on "Fake Pay Stubs"
- Part 2: Detecting Fake Pay Stubs
- Part 3: Preventing Fake Pay Stubs
- Part 4: What To Do If You've Been Duped By Fake Pay Stubs