Who are you letting in? Identity, trust, and the identities that keep coming back

3 days ago

2 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Author: Karita Sall, VP of Global Communications, Veriff

In lettings, decisions move quickly. The consequences of getting identity wrong last much longer.

Lettings moves far faster than sales. Between tenant referencing and right-to-rent checks, an applicant can go from viewing to keys in days. If the identity isn't what it seems, the agent may only find out when the rent stops. By then, the route back runs through arrears and a lengthy court process.

See Veriff and Rightmove on stage

Who are you letting in? Identity, trust, and growth in the UK rental market

November 2, 11:30 AM–12:00 PM, Marketplace Risk Global Summit, London

Geo Jolly, Lead Product Manager at Veriff, and Lara James, Product Manager for Referencing and Agency Services at Rightmove, will discuss how verification turns friction into confidence by driving adoption, reducing fraud, and protecting platform reputation.

When "looks fine" isn't enough

An agent's in-person document check used to carry real weight. Today, AI-generated payslips, forged documents, and deepfakes are much harder to spot by eye. A document can look perfect and still be fake.

A decline isn't always the end of the story, either. Our upcoming Identity Fraud Report 2027 explores zombie identities: identities that keep coming back after a fraud decline, often at a different business, with no trace of the earlier attempt.

Real person, right person, fair process

Proving a real person is present isn't the same as proving they're who they claim to be. Facial biometrics help with both, and agents need each at different moments.

Fairness matters just as much. Applicants come from all over the world, and an unfamiliar document shouldn't automatically look suspicious. Veriff supports 12,500+ document specimens from 230+ countries and territories, with decisions in 6 seconds on average.

Faster, without weakening trust

Digital ID checks give referencing a consistent standard that doesn't depend on one person's eye. But agents vary in how ready they are to move away from manual checks. That's why education matters: it shows why a digital check adds value even when a document looks fine.

The real question is where friction belongs. Some friction protects the journey but some just slows down a genuine tenant.

What comes next

Geo and Lara will explore which approaches could matter next: biometrics, open banking, network signals, and trust earlier in the journey, from browsing to lead submission. They'll also explore how to combine signals without requiring every applicant to complete every check.

And they'll close with a question every lettings business can take home: what's one thing you should reconsider now about how you establish trust in an applicant?