Avail Vastly Reduces Rental Fraud with Proof’s Identity Verification
Renting a home is a personal transaction. A renter sends a deposit based on trust. A landlord opens their property to someone they may never meet in person. The platform that helps them connect, must earn and protect that trust every day. Avail was built with that belief at its core. The platform supports independent landlords and renters with listings, applications, background checks, digital leases, and ongoing payments. Today, Avail is part of Realtor.com and serves millions of rental relationships across the country. Avail has authorized more than $1B in rental fees.The product succeeds when both sides feel secure moving forward. As more of the rental process shifted online, that security was challenged. Avail began to see patterns that suggested some users were not who they claimed to be: a listing that looked slightly too good to be true an ID document that seemed fraudulent on close inspection a payment attempt that did not match the history of the account it came from “It became clear that trust was being tested,” said Avail Payment Specialist, Walker T. “A renter needs to know that the landlord really owns the property. A landlord needs to know their tenant is who they say they are. When that trust is shaken, everything else becomes suspect.”
Keeping Users Safe in a High-Trust Marketplace
Fraud in renting does not always look like fraud at first. Some fraudsters took photos of buildings they did not own and tried to list them. Others attempted to move large payments through accounts that raised quiet questions. Fraud was real and it had consequences. It created stress for renters, financial exposure for landlords, and service strain for Avail’s team. The company had long relied on manual review. Every listing was examined by a trained reviewer, and every questionable payment was investigated. The work was careful and thoughtful. But as Avail scaled, the process needed more support. “We have always reviewed every listing, because housing is too important to get wrong,” Walker said. “But we needed a way to confirm identity earlier and with more clarity, while keeping the experience easy for the thousands of honest users who rely on us every day.”
Adding an Identity Foundation to the Rental Experience
To reinforce trust without introducing friction, Avail introduced Identify by Proof to verify users when signals suggested additional checks were needed. When a new landlord publishes a listing, the listings team reviews it and looks for certain proprietary indicators of fraudulent activity. If something seems ‘off,’ the landlord is asked to verify their identity. And, if a potential landlord appears risky after completing the automated identity verification checks, Proof will “step up” the transaction to a human in the loop for verification via Proof’s network of identity agents. Over time, this workflow has now supported over 5,000 identity verification checks, each one helping Avail confirm who is participating in the rental process. On the payments side, the approach is similar. Avail monitors a set of specific signals, and whether the documents provided appear to be photos of photos or AI-generated images. When these risk factors accumulate, the account holder is guided through identity verification before any funds move. “Identify helps us understand who is participating in the transaction,” Walker said. “It allows us to move forward confidently when someone is real, and to step in early when something does not add up.” When identity information is returned, the team reviews it using Defend by Proof, which provides risk signals in context. Walker routinely checks details to determine authenticity . If the identity appears genuine, the user moves forward. If it does not, the team can take appropriate action.
Trust Restored at Scale
Within the first month of using Defend, Avail saw a meaningful impact. “We immediately saw results,” Walker said. “Defend helped us identify a fraudulent user and stop several thousand dollars from being lost.” As Avail expanded its identity workflow, the impact became measurable. The fraud rate dropped to only about 1%, less than the industry average. Customer support calls related to fraud decreased. Trustpilot reviews improved. And both renters and landlords gained more confidence in the platform. The shift was not simply operational. It changed the emotional experience of renting online.
Why Identity Verification Is A Game Changer For Online Rentals
Renting a home is more than a transaction. It is where someone lives, sleeps, and returns at the end of the day. When fraud enters that space, the harm is personal.
By grounding the rental experience in identity assurance, Avail has built a safer marketplace where renters and landlords can engage with confidence. The platform now prevents fraud earlier, supports honest users more smoothly, and continues to strengthen the relationships it set out to protect.
See how identity verification and risk intelligence work together to protect platforms, prevent fraud, and support real users.