Rental Scam

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By Elli Davis, March 14, 2010

For rent by Ian Muttoo

This article is probably (at least for now) my last one from the real estate fraud series. It is going to concentrate especially on rental scam . Have you ever heard about that before? My guess is yes, and even if not, the name itself should suggest you what it is.

You might simply be lied to a lose money to rental scammers. Do you want to know what to watch out for? Here I am offering you some tips how to recognize a rental scammer.

First of all, if the rental price seems to be way too low for the location, pay attention. If something is too good to be true then it usually is not. If you have no idea how high or low should the prices be, check out the usual prices for the offered location. Internet offers anything, search the web a bit.

Internet might be pretty helpful in other forms of trying to spot a scammer. Where did you read the advertisement or how did you find out about the rental possibility? Online? Then just copy some part of the text to a search box and see whether there are plenty of extremely similar ones with, for example, different name or address. If so, that is another sign that the you might have found a rental scammer.

Also, look at the way the rental offer is worded – sometimes it might be very telling. If it is just a text thrown together not very nicely, there's bigger possibility that you have something to do with a scammer. Another thing is the contact info – if the person does not leave their phone number, it is not a good sign. It does not have to mean anything, but if the number is there it seems to be safer.Negative also is if the tenant represents themselves as a doctor, or something similar to look more trustworthy – I mean, there is a bigger chance you will trust a doctor more than just an ordinary person.

Still, if you decide to contact the person even after some of these signs, be careful f they seem to too eager. Beware of their words that they have little time, etc. And if you have questions, ALWAYS wait for a reply. If the tenant hesitates to answer your question, that is a bad sign, my friend. Do not agree with something without having your questions answered, otherwise you just let someone cheat on you very easily.