If you wish to report an issue or seek an accommodation, please, Zillow, Inc. has a real estate brokerage license in multiple states. OTOH, someone with a post-office box/ business address could be entirely legit. If it is, you might want to ask the owner why it’s for sale as well as for rent. They use God Bless, Reverend, Doctor, UK, Cashiers Check, Money Order in the email. Top five red flags Demonstrates a poor grasp of … Look up the address online. Protect yourself by knowing what to look for. Have questions about buying, selling or renting during COVID-19? It is for information purposes only, and any links provided are for the user's convenience. Never, under any circumstances, send money to anyone without securing a lease and confirming the property manager has legal right to rent the property. If a property management firm is handling rentals in the building, check out Yelp ratings of the firm. Search their email address online and see if anything fishy comes up. They will try to get you to send a check for a security deposit or move-in fee without ever seeing the apartment. Never pay for a deposit in cash. How can you tell a dream rental from a nightmare scam? When you see a great rental listing, consider searching the address to see if the property is listed for sale on another site. Is this standard policy? The list is usually full of sham real estate listings, either fake or expired, and its impossible to get a refund on the sign-up fee. Vacation Home Rental Scam: How It Works (with video below) Some vacation home rentals are truly phenomenal, but beware of the newest trap: the Vacation Rentals By Owner or For Rent by Owner scam!Imagine this: You are ready to have the vacation of your dreams and, hoping to save some money, look for rental properties in the city you are going to. Only look for suitable properties on reputable property portals like Private Property or … With a rental application, tenant references, a credit check, and a comprehensive tenant background check, you can successfully avoid tenant scams and fraud. If you think you have been scammed, you can contact the FTC and file a complaint with them. You can usually do a simple search on who owns the property by looking up city records. If there are currently tenants leasing the property, try to speak to them as well and compare the answers you have received to those given to you by the landlord/rental agent. If your potential landlord is asking for personal information such as your Social Security number or the routing number for your bank account, steer clear. They won’t talk to you over the phone. Often, the rental application fee will include the price of the background check. The Listing Photos Have an MLS Watermark. There are two ways this scam is executed: using a house that is vacant because the owners are abroad or one that is really up for sale. Other rip-off artists make up listings for places that aren’t for rent or don’t exist, and try to lure you in with the promise of low rent, or great amenities. Make sure the listing isn’t too good to be true Google the Landlord or Manager It may seem obvious, but it’s a good idea to Google the owner and/or property manager, and even the address. Scam artists also prey on apartment hunters who are in a time crunch (because of a job relocation or personal issue, for example) and are desperate to find a new place as soon as possible. One of the great ways to check whether the landlord is a reliable person is contacting current tenants or the ones who rented his property recently. The scammer will scout a property which has been sitting empty for a period of time – either the owners are not based in the country or away on a trip. For instance, if you're feeling excitement and enthusiasm about finding a new home, your eagerness might make you become more trusting. If you are a renter, how can you protect yourself from falling for a rental scam? Walk away if the person advertising the home doesn't have possession of the keys. Ask the landlord if the property is in foreclosure or going into foreclosure. Though the landlord may just be careless, good property managers and landlords typically make sure that their listings are descriptive and error free. Maybe the owner couldn’t sell the house quickly enough and decided to rent instead. Look at the Zillow Rent Zestimate for the property that you’re interested in. Here are few tipoffs to a scam: You know the old saying, “If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.” This is also true for rental listings. Airbnb recommends looking through the feedback from past guests to see if a listing is accurately portrayed online. For most properties, Zillow will display an estimated monthly rent price for your target property. Landlordo is your source for rental news, tips, technology and more. Below are some renter tips to help avoid rental scams. Know Your Rights: Protection From Source-of-Income Discrimination, Sniffing Out a Rental Where Pets Are Welcome, Starting Your Search With the Right Tools & Tips. Rental Verification Checklist! I'm thinking of renting a vacation home in Kissimmee, FL. A Guide for New Landlords, Understanding Landlord Harassment: What You Need to Know. Phantom Rentals. Some of the landlords will be actually happy to provide you with good references and sometimes you’ll have to make a small research of your own to find this information out. Listings that seem too good to be true are likely to be scams. It requires a $300 deposit and full payment 60 days before arrival. If pictures are pulled from a For Sale property or you see the property is advertised elsewhere for market rate, the one you are interested in may be a scam. If you receive a booking request that exhibits several red flags, use caution. Please seek the services of a legal, accounting or real estate professional prior to any real estate transaction. If you come across any of these ads, we want to hear about it — report it to us at ftc.gov/complaint , … Some apartment communities will offer legitimate applications via a property's website, but don't submit an application with personal information until you've verified the property exists. Scammers often prey on first-time apartment renters, long-distance movers and those who aren’t internet savvy. Is the property managed by an established villa management company who does the cleaning or meet and greet? You can also conduct a search on the telephone number and the email address to see what kind of results come up. Check that a property actually exists. With the proliferation of free and paid rental sites, more and more rental scams are hitting the market. Prospective tenants can search and verify landlord details for free on the RentProfile website, such as property ownership or the last digits of a landlord’s bank account. How Can You Tell If a Rental Listing is a Scam? You should never be required to secure an apartment or a house by transferring money to a landlord, especially when you haven’t seen the place or signed a contract. Check that the guest’s name and email correspond to one another. Conduct Online Searches Before paying a deposit, do some research on your chosen property and its owner. If you think you have been scammed, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. I've seen other rentals say the same thing but full payment 2 months before arrival seems kinda sketchy. A list of our real estate licenses is available, Finding a Budget-Friendly Place as Rents Soar, Figuring Out What You Really Want and Need, 25 Essentials to Check During Your Rental Walkthrough, Avoiding Pitfalls Before You Sign a Lease, Understanding Your Basic Rights as a Renter, Standing Out From All Those Other Applicants. If it is too good to be true, it probably is. The best rule of thumb is to trust your instincts. Rental scam #1 – the cloned listing. Of course, there is a chance the listing is real and you’re getting a great deal, but be careful. If it is, you might want to ask the owner why it’s for sale as well as for rent. It's also possible that the person managing the property might not have the same last name as the owner (Managing for Father-in-law or something) making names in property records not 100% certain. Be aware of the following things when contacting them via email. 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