Every landlord eventually meets the applicant who is almost too good to be true. Great job, glowing references, a pay stub so crisp you could cut yourself on it, and a strong preference that you not call anybody on that list until after the keys change hands. Sometimes that person is just organized. Sometimes the pay stub was made on a laptop twenty minutes before the showing.
I've been investing in real estate for more than 20 years, and our team manages hundreds of rentals, so I've seen applications that were perfect, applications that were honest messes, and a few that were works of fiction. As we grow our property management in Seminole County, around Sanford, Oviedo, Lake Mary, and Winter Springs, I want owners there to know that Florida just changed the rules on that last group. Here's what changed and how I'd tighten tenant screening because of it.
What Florida's new rental fraud law actually does
On October 1, 2026, CS/HB 1293, "Fraudulent Entry of Residential Dwellings" took effect. In plain terms, it creates a new crime: taking possession of a rental home by using a materially false statement about your identity, forged or fictitious documents, or by impersonating someone else. That's now a third-degree felony.
The part landlords should circle is the change to section 83.56 of the Florida Statutes, the landlord-tenant section that deals with terminating a lease. According to the Jax Daily Record's rundown of the new laws, fraudulent entry is now treated as a noncurable breach, which means the landlord can terminate with a 7-day notice to vacate, even if no criminal case is ever filed.
Before anyone gets excited and starts drafting notices, a word of caution. Notice forms and eviction steps in Florida are unforgiving, and one wrong date or missing sentence can send you back to the start. If you think you have a fraud situation, talk to an attorney before you serve anything. The law gives owners a better tool. It doesn't make the tool foolproof.
Why a strong market is when screening matters most
Seminole County has been one of the tighter markets in Central Florida, and when a rental is priced right it can get attention fast. That's good news for owners. It's also exactly when people get sloppy. When three applications show up the same weekend, there's a temptation to grab the one with the biggest income number and hand over the keys before the other two cool off.
That's the moment a fake application wins. Fraud doesn't need you to be careless every day. It just needs you to be in a hurry once.
New supply is coming, too. GrowthSpotter reported that Seminole County approved 308 apartments near Oviedo this month. More rentals means more choice for renters and more pressure on owners to fill units quickly, which is one more reason to have a screening process you follow every single time, no matter how much you want the vacancy gone.
A practical Seminole County tenant screening checklist
None of this is exotic. It's the boring stuff, done consistently, and boring is exactly what you want from screening.
- Verify identity against the application. Compare the government ID to the name, date of birth, and photo, and make sure the person touring the home is the person applying. If someone else does all the talking and the "applicant" never shows up, that deserves a question.
- Verify income at the source. Don't just look at a pay stub, confirm it. Call the employer using a number you found yourself, not the one printed on the document. Bank statements should line up with the pay stubs, and both should line up with the story.
- Call prior landlords you can find independently. A "former landlord" whose phone number matches the applicant's cousin is a classic. Look up the property owner through the county property appraiser's records and confirm you're talking to the real owner or manager.
- Run the same checks for everyone. Same application, same criteria, same order, every time. Consistency is your best protection under fair housing law, and it also means you never have to explain why one person got a pass.
- Collect move-in funds the safe way. Certified funds or electronic payment that clears before keys are released. A check that bounces on Monday is a bad way to start a tenancy that began on Saturday.
- Document everything. Keep copies of the application, the ID review, and your verification notes. If you ever do need the new 7-day remedy, your attorney will want that file.
Fair housing still sets the ground rules
Tighter screening is not the same as stricter judging. Your written criteria should be about verifiable things like identity, income, rental history, and the property itself, applied equally to every applicant. Federal and Florida fair housing laws protect people from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, and national origin, and some local rules go further. Ask everyone the same questions, and if you have a reason to deny, make sure it's one of your written criteria.
Also keep a little perspective. The overwhelming majority of applicants are honest people who want a decent place to live. The point of a good process is that honest applicants breeze through it, and the occasional fake one runs into a wall. Nobody should feel like a suspect for applying to rent a house.
The other scam: when the "landlord" is the fake
Fraud runs both ways. Renters across Florida get burned by people who copy a real listing, slap on a lower rent, and ask for a deposit by app before anyone sees the inside of the house. As an owner, you can help by making sure your listings, signs, and showing process are clearly tied to you or your manager, and by telling prospects where to confirm a listing is real. A renter who trusts your process is a renter who applies.
Seminole County details owners shouldn't skip
HOA rules. Plenty of neighborhoods around Lake Mary, Oviedo, and Winter Springs have HOAs, and some require tenant applications, approval periods, or minimum lease lengths. Build that time into your move-in plan so the association isn't the reason a good tenant walks away.
Storm season paperwork. Hurricane season runs through November 30. Make sure your lease says who handles storm prep, your landlord policy is current, and you have dated photos of the property's condition before and after every season.
Flood questions. When the county approved those Oviedo-area apartments, commissioners heard flooding concerns about the Howell Creek basin, according to the same GrowthSpotter report. If your rental is in a low area, know your flood zone and your coverage before a tenant asks you, because they will.
Where a property manager earns their keep
Screening is one of those jobs that looks simple until you're doing it at 9 p.m. on a Sunday with your phone buzzing. Good Seminole County property management should mean a written screening policy, real verification instead of a glance at a PDF, Florida-compliant leases and notices, and an owner who sleeps through the night. We run every property the way an investor would, because that's what I am, and protecting your property starts long before move-in day.
If you own a rental in Sanford, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Winter Springs, or anywhere in Seminole County and want a second set of eyes on how you screen tenants, I'm glad to help. Call Bartomeo Property Management at 239-220-0735, visit bartomeo.com, or send us a message.