A property manager in Denver reviews rental applications with pay stubs and bank statements. The applicant claims $6,000/month income. The pay stubs look fine — but they're PDF files that took 10 minutes to create in Canva. When she tries to verify employment by calling the listed employer, no one answers. Two months later, the tenant stops paying rent. The eviction process costs $3,500 and takes 4 months.
Fake pay stubs are a $350/year industry. Websites like 'noveltypaystubs.com' openly sell them. Property managers estimate 15-20% of rental applications contain some form of falsified income documentation. Traditional verification — calling employers, checking bank statements manually — is slow and unreliable. The gig economy made it worse: Uber drivers, freelancers, and OnlyFans creators have legitimate but unconventional income that's hard to verify with pay stubs.
Plaid ($0.50-3/verification) revolutionized bank account connections for fintech. The Work Number by Equifax ($15-60/report) handles employment verification for enterprise. But there's no simple, affordable income verification API designed for the rental industry. At $10-25/verification, an API that connects to applicant bank accounts via Plaid, analyzes transaction patterns for income, and generates a verified income report would serve property managers who process thousands of applications yearly. Build for landlords first, then expand to auto dealers and lenders.
💰 Revenue Blueprint
Three-tier value ladder to monetize from day one
Bank connection, 3-month income analysis, PDF report
Bulk pricing, API access, applicant self-service portal, 12-month income history
White-label, custom integration, employment verification add-on, SLA
📊 Market Evidence
The Market Gap
Plaid has the infrastructure but rental-specific income verification is DIY. Truework/The Work Number are expensive and enterprise-focused. No turnkey API at $10-25/verification designed specifically for landlords and property managers.
🏆 Competitor Landscape
How existing players stack up in this market
| Competitor | Pricing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Plaid | Pay-per-verification | Bank account + income verification API |
| Argyle | Contact sales | Employment + income verification |
| Truework | $30-50/verification | Employment verification service |
| The Work Number | $15-60/report | Equifax employment database |
| Finicity | Per-transaction | Open banking + income verification |
Bank account + income verification API
Employment + income verification
Employment verification service
Equifax employment database
Open banking + income verification
🛠️ Recommended Tech Stack
Suggested tools and technologies to build this idea
Why this stack: Plaid for bank connections. Custom ML to analyze transaction patterns and identify true income vs one-time deposits. Focus on rental-specific income patterns.
Score Breakdown
Good market signals with room for growth
Market (20%) + Revenue (20%) + Trend (15%) + Competition (15%) + Build (15%) + Pricing (15%)
🚀 Start Building
Copy a prompt into your favorite AI coding tool and start building this idea right now.
Build a SaaS product called "Tenant Income Verifier". ## Product Overview Plaid-powered income verification for rentals ## Problem Plaid-powered income verification for rentals ## Solution Build Tenant Income Verifier ## Target Audience indie hackers, small businesses, and solopreneurs ## Tech Stack - Next.js 15 (App Router) with TypeScript - Tailwind CSS v4 for styling - Supabase for auth, database, and storage - Vercel for deployment - shadcn/ui for UI components - Framer Motion for animations ## MVP Features to Build 1. Landing page with clear value proposition 2. User authentication (sign up, sign in, forgot password) 3. Core product functionality based on the solution above 4. Dashboard for users to manage their data 5. Pricing page with at least 2 tiers (free + paid) 6. Basic settings/profile page ## Known Competitors Plaid, Argyle, Truework, The Work Number, Finicity ## Key Risks to Address Standard market entry risks ## Deployment 1. Set up Supabase project and configure environment variables 2. Deploy to Vercel with `npx vercel --prod` 3. Set up custom domain 4. Configure Supabase RLS policies for security ## Instructions Start by creating the project structure, then build the landing page first. Use server components where possible. Make it mobile-responsive from the start. Focus on getting the core value loop working before adding polish.