RealPage has launched Identity Verification, which it says is the real estate industry’s first comprehensive tool for preventing fraud at multiple touchpoints across the leasing and payments process.
The company, which provides software and data analytics to the real estate industry, said the tool will save property management operators over $30 per unit each year.
“Identity fraud is a pervasive issue, and the problem has accelerated in recent years,” RealPage said in a Thursday (June 10) news release announcing the new tool.
Citing Federal Trade Commission figures, the company said that in 2020, 2.2 million consumers filed fraud reports and 1.4 million filed identity theft reports, a rise of 115 percent over 2019. “This resulted in $3.3 billion in total fraud losses, up from $1.9 billion in 2019,” per the news release. “Identity theft has intensified during the pandemic, with one in 10 U.S. adults reporting identity theft since the pandemic began.”
Identity fraud costs in multifamily real estate are substantial, from lost rent revenue to higher legal costs to a drop in productivity and a loss of reputation. Property managers also incur thousands in expenses connected to eviction-related damages and other expenses stemming from application, payment and screening fraud.
“Dishonest characters who gain access to properties by using a false identity can put agents and residents at risk, costing owners millions of dollars and significant reputational damage,” said Michael Mauseth, SVP of RealPage Screening Services. “RealPage’s integrated Identity Verification solutions mitigate fraud at point of tour, point of application, and point of payment.”
RealPage IDV helps property managers reduce identity fraud with “comprehensive, dynamically-updated identity intelligence and pattern recognition” to detect multiple forms of frauds on applications and the applying identity.
The program verifies applicant IDs through a “contactless, multilevel government-issued ID validation process, all done through the applicant’s phone.” It also integrates document validation with onsite touring options, preventing bad actors from harming agents or damaging properties.
When it comes time to pay, IDV integration makes sure payments are verified before processing starts, preventing chargebacks and lost rent payments.
The announcement comes less than a week after RealPage said it would team up with Airbnb to launch apartment homesharing solution Migo.
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