Income verification is the check most likely to be faked and the one most landlords do least carefully. Doctored pay stubs are a few dollars online. Here is what to ask for and what gives a fake away.

The standard, and why it is the standard

Most landlords look for gross monthly income around three times the rent. It is a rough rule, not a law, and it exists because it leaves enough after housing for everything else. Adjust it honestly: in high-cost metros 2.5x is often the realistic ceiling, and a tenant with no debt at 2.5x may be safer than one at 3x carrying a car loan and student debt.

Whatever multiple you choose, use the same one for everyone, and be careful with how you count. In a growing number of states and cities, refusing to count a housing voucher or other benefit as income is source-of-income discrimination and is illegal.

What to accept

  • Employed: the two or three most recent pay stubs, plus an offer letter if the job is new. A stub showing year-to-date totals is worth more than one showing a single period.
  • Self-employed or contract: last year's tax return, ideally two, plus three months of bank statements. 1099s help. A profit and loss statement alone is self-reported and proves little.
  • Benefits, pension, or support: the annual award or benefit letter, or a court order for maintenance. These are usually the easiest to verify because they come from an institution.
  • Anyone: bank statements. Deposits that match the claimed income are strong corroboration, and they are much harder to fabricate convincingly than a single stub.

Ask for two independent sources wherever you can. A stub plus a matching bank deposit is a far higher bar than either alone, and it costs the honest applicant nothing.

How to spot a fake

Forged stubs are cheap and common. They usually fail on arithmetic rather than appearance.

  • Run the numbers. Gross minus each deduction should equal net, exactly. Year-to-date should equal the period amount times the number of periods elapsed. Fakes routinely fail both.
  • Check the tax math. Social Security is 6.2 percent and Medicare 1.45 percent of gross for most employees. Those two are fixed and forgers get them wrong.
  • Look at round numbers. Real net pay is rarely a clean figure. A stub netting exactly $3,200.00 deserves a second look.
  • Check the employer exists. Search the company, then call the main line you found yourself rather than the number printed on the document.
  • Look at the file. Inconsistent fonts, misaligned columns, a PDF whose metadata says it was created in an image editor, or a document dated on a weekend or holiday.
  • Compare to the bank statement. If the deposits do not match the stubs, one of them is wrong.

Keep it lawful and keep it brief

Ask every applicant for the same documents. Do not ask for a full tax return from one applicant and a single stub from another, and do not ask for documents that reveal protected characteristics you have no business knowing. Store what you collect securely and dispose of it when the decision is made and any retention period has passed, because these are exactly the documents identity thieves want.

If verifying by hand is the part that slows you down, income verification does the arithmetic and the cross-check for you and returns a plain answer on the application.