Back in October we posted an article about times prospective tenants and residents are most likely to be dishonest. But that doesn’t mean landlords aren’t in the same boat sometimes as well. All it takes is a registered piece of property and people are allowed to be landlords. No background check required, no accreditation process. The majority of landlords are good people trying to make a good investment. As for the rest of them, here’s what to watch out for-
Not Keeping Their Word
Tell you they’ll fix a maintenance issue in the apartment and then they don’t
Never give your deposit back
Give you verbal permission for something related to the property and then don’t respect the verbal agreement later (always get everything in writing)
Let’s clarify that the people running scams aren’t real landlords but are only posing as landlords. Here is a list of the most common rental scams.
Copy real listings of houses or apartments that are on sale and re-advertise them with a different email and phone number as a way to gather a deposit and first month’s rent
In this case will often claim they are out of state or out of the country to explain why they can’t meet you in person
Ask you to wire the money, usually through Western Union, and won’t accept any other form of payment
Usually are after money but sometimes will ask you to fill out a fake application so they have access to your personal information
Commandeer foreclosed homes and change the locks
Sometimes give you a fake set of keys to an apartment
May rent the place themselves, collect deposit and fees from you, then disappear
Some scams are harder to detect than others, but most have similar warning signs. Craigslist has a banner that lists the warning signs of rental scams to help you be aware of those trying to take advantage of you.
Jay Thompson is a landlord in Arizona who heard about some of these scams. Curious about what exactly they do to reel people in, he applied as a potential tenant to an ad he could tell wasn’t real. The exchanges he had with the scammer are pretty entertaining to read, plus he gives some good points about the warning signs of scams as well.
