This is a pretty common question, and if you’re a landlord or a homeowner, you might run into it.
You’re trying to get someone out, you’re trying to raise the rent, and all of a sudden they show up with a lease that didn’t exist.

I’ve seen this a lot in my time as a forensic document examiner—big condominium complexes, restaurants, office buildings.
Basically, they’ll show up and say, “Hey, we belong here.”

There was a really interesting case a few years ago where they had a multi-page, ten-page lease allegedly signed by the deceased father.
After many hours and thousands of dollars in forensic work, we had a computer expert on my side and I served as the forensic handwriting expert.

I concluded not only was the signature not real, but the pages were typed word-for-word from the original lease—except they made typos.
They made typos on every page.
The computer expert was able to find the original draft on their computer where they manufactured the lease.

The tenant in that case lost profoundly—and likely had to pay for all the experts and attorneys—because they created a fake lease to get better terms and stay in the property long past due.

Now, that was a multi-million-dollar case. You probably can’t afford that.
If you’re a homeowner or a small landlord with a triplex, what typically happens is you try to evict them and they say,
“Hey, we have a lease,” or “We’re under rent control,” and they produce a lease you supposedly signed—or your dad signed—even if he has passed away.

Where a forensic document examiner comes in to save the landlord.

This is exactly where a forensic document examiner comes in, because you may not be able to find copies of the previous leases.
But there’s usually a pattern.
If your dad (for example) rented properties for twenty years, he probably had a standard lease.

And if the lease that shows up doesn’t match the formatting, the font, the notary, the timing—those details matter.
That’s what an examiner looks at. We investigate where (if anywhere) the lease deviates from the known, normal set.

If you’re a landlord and a tenant has manufactured a lease, you can win in court and finally get them evicted so you can turn the property.
But you’ll probably need a real estate attorney and a forensic document examiner to help prove the case.
And yes—they will lie. They’ll say you signed it, or your friend signed it, or “this is that.”

Sometimes the notary is a friend of theirs.
If you’re lucky, you can find the computer file where they manufactured it.
You can also look at the paper and the age of the paper.

I had a case almost twenty years ago where someone downloaded a last will and testament template, and the copyright date was two years after the person died.
It’s pretty hard to sign a will when you’re dead, right?

Is it worth the fight?

So you’re looking for clues to determine if a lease is false or not.
We’ve handled cases like this in San Francisco, Tennessee, Dallas, and Los Angeles, plus with other experts around the country.
It’s not uncommon.

The real question is: is it worth the fight?
Is it worth pushing to get the person evicted, get the property back, and turn it— or is it better to let them stay?

In most cases, if a tenant is forging leases, they’re way behind, they’re under rent control, and they want to stay forever.
So yes—this is often financially viable to fight.

If you own property in California, you have a second layer of problems.
California is not landlord-friendly.
During COVID, there were cases where someone stayed in a property for two and a half years without paying rent because the state made eviction so difficult.
That’s why a lot of people prefer owning in landlord-friendly states like Texas or Tennessee, where you can actually evict someone if they’re not paying.

If someone doesn’t pay rent, that’s money out of your business and your family’s pocket.
But some states and some tenants don’t see it that way.
There’s this idea that “landlords are rich and tenants are poor.”
That’s not the truth.
Most landlords in the U.S. are mom-and-pop businesses with one to three rental units.
It’s their nest egg.

So when someone doesn’t pay rent for four months, that’s $12,000 gone—and that isn’t right.

What to do if you’re dealing with a forged lease

If you’re in a situation where someone forged a lease and they’re trying to stay (especially under rent control),
you’ll likely need a forensic document examiner and an attorney.
You also need to do everything properly and quickly: serve notices, post an eviction notice, and get in front of a judge as soon as you can.

Once you get to an evidentiary hearing, they may move out or give up.
Because if it’s proven they manufactured false evidence for court, that can become a serious issue.
Police don’t love civil “he said, she said” cases, but submitting a false document and lying under oath is serious business.
That’s something to consider in negotiations.

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