TAMPA, Fla. — A new Florida law taking effect Oct. 1 will make certain types of rental application fraud a third-degree felony, giving landlords another tool to address fraudulent applications while raising concerns among tenant advocates about the consequences for renters.
House Bill 1293, signed into law in June after passing unanimously in both legislative chambers, makes it a felony to knowingly and willfully use forged financial documents, falsify identity information or impersonate someone else to fraudulently gain possession of a rental home.
The law comes as property managers report increasingly sophisticated fraud, including the use of artificial intelligence to fabricate financial records.
A National Multifamily Housing Council survey conducted between November 2023 and January 2024 found that 93.3% of 75 responding apartment owners, developers and managers had experienced…
Identity theft is the “foundational” fraud upon which many other crimes are built. It involves the unauthorized acquisition and use of a person’s personal identifying information (PII), such as an ID number, Social Security number, or passport details.
- How it works: Fraudsters obtain PII through data breaches, mail theft, or “social engineering” (tricking people into revealing details). Once they have this data, they can open new bank accounts, apply for credit cards or loans, and even receive medical treatment under your name.
- Synthetic Identity Fraud: A sophisticated variation where criminals combine real and fabricated information to create a completely new, “synthetic” person. This is particularly difficult to detect because there is no single victim to report the suspicious activity initially.