As you go through rental applications, think like a sleuth. Verify listed employers and places of employment against the phone book. Do the company names, addresses, and phone numbers match? If you can't find a business in the phone book, find out why it's not there. If the applicant says the company went out of business, go to the library and look for listings in old phone books. Libraries usually keep them in the reference section.

If an applicant provides pay stubs, verify the social security number on the stub with what was written down on the application. Be wary of prolonged periods of unemployment or gaps in an applicant's employment history that may indicate the applicant doesn't hold jobs or doesn't want to list some of the workplaces.

If you discover that the applicant provided false information on the rental application, reject him as a tenant. (False information on a lease or rental agreement gives you grounds for evicting the tenant if he has already moved in.)