Inhabit completes 90% of income verifications with digitally sourced data, with Argyle helping reduce fraud risk 

Embedding Argyle's income and employment verification solutions gives applicants a direct-source alternative to documents, reducing fraud risk and helping units fill faster

About

Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, Inhabit is a global proptech software company serving more than 4 million units across the residential and short-term rental property management industries. The company's 1,100-plus team members support a portfolio of 37 brands spanning software, payments, and insurance that together process more than $20 billion in annual transactions. Within its residential division, Inhabit provides tenant screening services to property managers ranging from mid-market operators to large enterprises.

Challenge

Like the rest of the tenant screening industry, Inhabit’s clients have had to contend with application fraud that's grown more sophisticated as fraudsters adopt new tools, from AI-generated pay stubs to fabricated identity packages.

"AI has made it incredibly easy to fabricate convincing pay stubs and even entire identities,” said Lisa Chall, vice president of screening and compliance for Inhabit’s residential division. “That leaves site teams responsible for distinguishing legitimate documents from increasingly sophisticated fakes.”

Inhabit's prior income verification process relied on applicant-provided documents, such as pay stubs and bank statements. Documents fell short for another reason: 40% of Inhabit’s applicants have income from more than one source. Capturing that complexity meant finding a way to verify multiple income streams directly, without needing to rely on document review at all.

These gaps added real time to a process where speed matters. Verification-related issues add an average of 24 hours to the process and, in more serious cases, create delays of three to four days.

“An applicant has shown up to move into a unit, U-Haul and kids in tow, only to be held up because income couldn't be verified in time,” said Laurice Neely, general manager at Western Reporting, Inhabit’s resident screening and fraud prevention brand. “That’s exactly what we’re trying to prevent.”

Delays also carry a cost for Inhabit's property management clients. Every day without a signed lease is lost revenue on that unit, and it risks pushing the applicant to look elsewhere.

Inhabit needed a verification strategy that could reduce reliance on applicant-provided documents through direct-source income and employment data while delivering more dependable answers on the documents that still required review.

Solution

Inhabit added Argyle as a key component of a new, multi-layered income and employment verification solution that begins by checking a digital database that uses employer payroll feeds to confirm an applicant’s employment status and income. When no match is found, or when the income returned does not match what was reported on the rental application, Inhabit gives applicants a direct-source path through Argyle's income and employment verification solutions.

Applicants can share income data directly from their payroll or bank accounts using Argyle. Payroll data can also support employment verification, with Argyle's consumer-permissioned verification data platform covering 90% of the U.S. workforce.

This expands digital coverage across a broader range of applicants while reducing reliance on applicant-submitted documents, where manipulation and fraud can occur. 

When direct-source data isn't available, Argyle's document processing provides a final layer of verification. Argyle can evaluate documents, automatically extracting data and applying an authenticity score that flags signs of fraud or manipulation.

“There’s little opportunity for fraud to enter the workflow when we’re leveraging payroll and banking data applicants share directly from the source using Argyle,” Chall said. “The only opening is when someone submits a document, and Argyle’s document processing helps us identify fraud or manipulation there, too.”

Inhabit has already begun embedding Argyle directly into its online application experiences and is working quickly to extend that model across additional product lines. Applicants can move directly into Argyle's connection flow without leaving the application, giving them an immediate opportunity to share direct-source payroll or banking data before the workflow falls back to documents.

Outcome

• 90% of income verifications from direct source data

Inhabit now completes 90% of income verifications entirely through digitally sourced data, keeping applicant-uploaded documents and the fraud risk they introduce out of most of the workflow.

“The more we can keep applicant-furnished documents and the fraud risk they introduce out of the workflow, the more we reduce risk for our property management clients and improve the experience for applicants and site teams,” Chall said.

• Higher completion rates with embedded verification

Nearly 9 in 10 applicants respond to verification requests sent separately by text or email. Inhabit has found that embedding verification directly into the online lease application drives completion even higher.

“Embedding Argyle directly into the application keeps more applicants moving through the process and delivers a greater return,” Chall said.

• A more complete picture of applicants' ability to pay

Forty percent of Inhabit's applicants have income from more than one source, including second jobs, gig work, and other income such as child support. Accounting for those multiple income streams gives Inhabit a more complete view of applicant income. Argyle’s coverage extends to more than 30 gig platforms, VA and Social Security benefits, as well as bank data, giving Inhabit a way to verify income that doesn’t come through a traditional employer.

“Being able to capture multiple sources of income gives us a much fuller picture of someone's ability to pay rent,” Chall said. “That's a ton of value we get from Argyle.”

What’s next

Inhabit is continuing to embed Argyle's income and employment verification solutions across its product lines while exploring new applications for the platform's flexibility. That includes affordable housing, where Inhabit is evaluating how to configure data sources around different program requirements and cost considerations.

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