For the last few years, property managers have told us that it’s gotten harder to find residents who check all of the boxes, from their income to their credit score and eviction history—particularly as climbing rents squeezed some households’ budgets over the last few years. At the same time, rental fraud is on the rise in a big way, with property managers telling us how AI image generators have made it easy for rental applicants to fudge pay stubs and other documents.
This post will highlight three key areas where property managers can make an impact: improving tenant quality, boosting retention, and fighting fraud. We’ll break down what’s driving these challenges and what you can do to turn them into opportunities for your business.
Want the full picture of what this year holds, as well as expert perspectives and practical tips to put these trends to work in your company? Download your free copy of our 2026 Property Management Industry Report now.
Trend #1: Tenant Quality Challenges: Why Finding Reliable Renters is Harder
When it comes to rental affordability, the numbers tell the story: Though rent increases have slowed recently, single-family rent prices are still 43% higher than in April 2020, and apartment rents are 29% higher, according to Zillow. Meanwhile, the median household income has only risen by 23%. That means many renters are devoting more than a third of their income to housing costs—leaving some struggling to keep up.
This puts property managers in a tough position: The cost of owning and maintaining a rental property has gone up significantly, leading many rental owners to raise rents. But with rents set at higher prices, fewer renters are able to afford them, leaving just 57% of residents able to pay all of their bills on time and in full right now, according to our surveys.
That’s why many property managers are struggling to find qualified rental applicants to fill any vacancies that open up. As one survey respondent told us, their company’s biggest challenge is “finding quality tenants with documentable income. Gig workers and roommate situations are becoming more common. We educate our owners and ask them to present a well-kept property in order to attract better-quality renters. Our owners understand that we may take a little longer to fill a vacancy in order to have a quality tenant.”
The takeaway? Quality matters more than speed. Strong screening practices and well-maintained properties are key to attracting reliable residents.
Turn Insight into Action: Educate Owners on Quality Over Speed
Share data on eviction costs and turnover rates to justify longer vacancy periods for better tenants, using screening scorecards to guide decisions.
Trend #2: Rising Retention: Why Keeping Quality Residents Pays Off
When vacancies are harder to fill, retention becomes a game changer. According to our surveys, 61% of rental owners hired a property manager because they wanted an expert’s help in managing, attracting, and retaining residents. When asked about their biggest worry when it comes to the future of their rental property, finding quality tenants was among rental owners’ most common responses. As one owner put it, “The greatest [source] of stress is getting a tenant to meet qualifications and pay on time so that we can in turn have the mortgage paid in a timely manner.”
This gives property managers the perfect chance to prove their value by finding high-quality residents and retaining them over time. One property manager respondent told us, “The greatest opportunity for our property management company this year is to acquire more rental properties while attracting higher-quality tenants. We plan to achieve this by strengthening our tenant screening process [and] improving property maintenance standards.”
Rewarding retention can help, too—for example, small incentives for renewing a lease or paying rent on time each month. Among renters who were still deciding whether or not to renew their lease, a full 67% told us they’d stay put if the rent were kept the same for another year. But with rising costs making rent increases more common, resident reward programs could be an alternative option. It’s also wise to compare your pricing to rents in your area before making adjustments, since keeping great residents in place is almost always cheaper than finding new ones.
Turn Insight into Action:
- Price Strategically for Retention: Benchmark rents against local comps, using tiered pricing—market rate for new tenants, modest increases for renewals—to balance profit and loyalty.
- Reward Resident Reliability: Offer perks like rent reporting, filter delivery, or renewal bonuses for on-time payments, using benefit packages to boost retention.
Trend #3: Fighting Fraud: Why Screening Technology is a Must-Have
Fraud has become a serious threat, with 75% of property management companies reporting a rise in fraud over the past year, according to a RealPage study. In addition, research by Celeri has found that around 1 in 10 rental applicants hands in fraudulent documents, and more than half of eviction cases stem from renters who had been approved based on fraudulent documents.
As Troy Dodgion, Managing Partner at 21st Century Property Management, explained, “Fake documents are everywhere. You can just teach AI on a bunch of ADP paycheck stubs, then have it generate a document. I think we’re going to see that grow and grow. Everyone’s looking at how wonderful and positive AI is, but the nefarious actors are going to take advantage of this, too.”
That’s why we weren’t surprised to see tenant screening tools rank as the second-most valuable technology for property managers in our survey. Investing in screening tech isn’t optional anymore—using the latest technology to uncover credit, criminal, and eviction data is essential for protecting your owners’ properties and finances.
Turn Insight into Action: Strengthen Screening Standards
Use advanced tenant screening tools (for example, those available through Buildium) to uncover credit, criminal, and eviction data and detect falsified documents—critical as rental fraud rises.
The 2026 rental market is demanding more from property managers, with fraud on the rise and affordability challenges shrinking the pool of qualified renters. But there’s good news: Companies that double down on screening, retention strategies, and the resident experience will stand out. From offering renewal incentives to using advanced screening tools, the steps you take to attract and keep high-quality residents will pay off in the form of stability, trust, and long-term profitability.
Ready to see how leading property management companies are tackling these challenges and turning them into growth opportunities? Download our 2026 Property Management Industry Report now for expert perspectives and practical tips to help you thrive.
