Landlord guide · Rental fraud
How to spot a fake pay stub on a rental application
Short answer
Don't judge a pay stub by how it looks; check it against things an applicant can't edit. Call the employer on a number you find yourself, compare the net pay with deposits on a bank statement, match names and addresses across every document, and confirm references with past landlords directly. With consent, a credit report shows whether the history fits.
Why a good-looking pay stub proves little
Pay stub templates are a search away, and a PDF can be edited in minutes. A stub that looks professional tells you only that someone had a good template. What matters is whether the facts on it can be confirmed somewhere the applicant doesn't control.
That's the idea behind every check below, and behind our own tenant screening: go to the source. One landlord who has used Zola twice put it this way in a Google review: careful document checks “saved us from falling prey to fraudulent individuals.”
Red flags on the stub itself
None of these proves fraud on its own, but each is a reason to look harder:
- round numbers, such as gross pay of exactly $3,000.00 every period
- year-to-date totals that don't add up for the pay date and pay schedule
- income tax, CPP or EI deductions that are missing, or identical on every stub
- pay dates that don't match the stated schedule, or fall on a weekend
- an employer address or phone number that doesn't match the company's public listings
- spelling mistakes, mixed fonts or misaligned columns
- a name or address that's slightly different from the ID
Call the employer, not the number on the stub
This one check catches more fake documents than any other. Find the employer's number yourself, from its website or its Google listing, and ask for payroll or human resources. With the applicant's consent, ask them to confirm that the person works there, in the role stated. Many employers will confirm employment but not salary, and that's enough to test the documents.
For a small or unfamiliar company, check that it exists: search the Ontario Business Registry or the federal corporations database, and look for a real address and a working phone line. A company with no footprint except the job letter is a warning sign.
Self-employed applicants won't have pay stubs. Ask for their Canada Revenue Agency Notices of Assessment for the last year or two, and bank statements that show the business income coming in.
Match the pay to the bank deposits
Ask for recent bank statements that show the payroll deposits. The applicant can cover unrelated transactions. The net pay on each stub should land in the account on, or right after, the pay date, from the same employer name.
If the stubs say $2,100 every second Friday and the statements show irregular transfers of different amounts, ask about it before going further. There may be a simple answer, like a second account, but you want to hear it.
Check the job letter
A real employment letter is on the company's letterhead, dated recently, and signed by someone whose name and title you can confirm. Be careful with letters sent from a personal email address, signatures that look pasted in, or a contact who only answers on a mobile number given in the letter. Confirm the letter in the same call as the employment check.
Use the credit report and the ID together
With the applicant's written consent, a credit report shows their credit history, and it also shows the names and addresses they've used. Those should match the application and the rental history. An applicant who says they've rented downtown for three years, while every address on file is somewhere else, has some explaining to do.
Check that the photo ID matches the person at the showing, and that the name on the ID matches every other document exactly.
References that aren't who they say they are
A reference from a “previous landlord” is sometimes a friend. Ask questions only the real landlord would know: the monthly rent, the move-in date, whether the deposit covered the last month, and how notice was given. A real landlord answers those quickly and specifically.
Where you can, find the landlord's contact details yourself, for example through the property management company named on the building, rather than using only the number the applicant gave you.
If you suspect fraud
Don't accuse anyone. Decline the application politely, in writing, and keep copies of what you were given. If the documents look forged, report it to your local police and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Above all, use the same checks on every applicant. Consistent screening is fairer, it keeps you within Ontario's Human Rights Code, and it's what catches the one application in the pile that isn't what it seems. Our guide to Ontario rental applications covers what you can and can't ask.
Sources
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