Common Rental Scams and How to Avoid Them

 

Top Rental Scams And Tips To Avoid Them

Buying or renting a house is one of the initial requirements when you want to relocate to another location due to work or education, or you just want to move from your current location. But, this is not easy today, when an array of frauds and cons occur while renting a house. You may not know when and where you got scammed by such scammers. Does this mean that you won't rent any home in your lifetime? Well, this doesn't sound realistic, as there would be occurrences when you get involved in renting a property. But how can you do without getting scammed? You are not required to fret about it, as the following article will help you know about the various scams and how to avoid them. Thus, read the following guide till the end, to ensure that you won't have to face any financial difficulty while looking for a property.

 

What are Common Rental Scams that Tenants may face?

No matter where someone resides, the prevalence of rental scams is on the rise globally, affecting individuals across various countries. These scams often take advantage of unsuspecting renters, leading to significant financial losses and frustration. Typical examples of rental scams can be seen as follows: 

• Meet with fake real estate agents—Recently, the number of counterfeit real estate agents has increased. Here, the person claimed to be an agent who may even ask for a refundable deposit or visiting charges before showing you the property in person. Moreover, it may also be possible that they won't meet you in person and will just contact you by phone or mail to avoid the chances of being caught.  
• Rent the property without an agreement—Sometimes, landlords lure potential tenants by offering a lower rent, but in return, they insist on not having an agreement for renting the property. The rent is a legal document that the landlord or the tenant can't deny, explicitly stating the rental agreement conditions, including the amount of the rent, duration of the stay, and other necessary conditions.
• Make a phony list of properties—Scammers are prone to creating fake property lists on renowned and popular online portals. Here, the tenants consider the site authentic and are lured by the property's location, pictures, descriptions, and rate. However, it may even be possible that such properties don't exist in real life or are not available for rent.
• Unfulfilled promises by the landowners—It may be possible that you find a good property with the real agents, but there are some issues with the property, such as leakage or electrical issues. For which, the landowners promise to repair them before you move in. But they fail to do so, and thus, you would be prone to getting exploited by the landowner. Moreover, there is no legal agreement for such issues, thus, you are not able to legally take any actions against the owner.
• Renting a house that is not vacant—Sometimes, some tenants hold the property for a long time and are not likely to vacate soon. The landlords get frustrated with them and rent the property to another tenant, so the headache of moving out the previous tenant is taken care of by the new one, making the situation difficult for the other tenant. Moreover, the money of the other person also gets stuck in the hands of the landowner, making it difficult for the person to make any move.

 

What are the Ways To Know That You Are Being Scammed?

If you're uncertain about whether you've encountered a scammer, it's important to take some time to investigate. Refer to the detailed list provided below to help you determine if you may have fallen victim to these deceitful individuals. By cross-checking your experiences with this information, you can gain clarity and take appropriate action if needed. Stay vigilant and protect yourself from potential scams: 

• Landlords don't want to meet you personally—If you ever feel like the landlord or the agent is trying to avoid meeting with you and keeps saying that they are busy doing so and so, you can understand that they are fake. On the other hand, a good landlord always tries to make personal or at least digital contact with you to ensure a comfortable environment.
• May force you to move immediately—Agents may try to persuade you to move immediately without having a proper look at the property. They may make you see the property from the outskirts, but avoid making you go inside by making false statements. This happens because the fake agents don't have access to the property, thus making you just go round and round the location.  
• Signing an incomplete lease—Depositing the security amount before signing the lease is risky. It is more likely a scam if the property manager or the landlord asks you to deposit the security amount before signing a legal lease. Typically, the application fees and the token amount are the only ones asked before signing the lease. Otherwise, no huge amount will be asked before signing an agreement while renting any property. 
• There is a typo error in the fake list- Agents and landlords who are serious about renting their property are professional when writing the description of their property. Those who seem to be real agents may not care much about what they write and thus can make an array of errors while making a list of their rentals. 
• The price seems too good for the property—Fake agents lure tenants by tagging attractive prices in front of the property. Hence, if you ever see a price that seems too good for a particular property, either due to its location, proximity, or size, it is a big no-no. It means that a property that seems undervalued by its owner is an immediate red flag, which you can avoid while renting.

 

How To Avoid Being Scammed?

If you have a strong suspicion that you may have been targeted by a scammer, it's crucial to remain vigilant and protect yourself from falling into their deceptive trap. To safeguard your personal information and finances, follow these essential steps to avoid being scammed: 

• Meet your landlord personally—To ensure you are not being scammed, you must meet your landlord personally. If that's impossible, you must request a real-time video walkthrough of the rental from the agent to ensure the property exists. If the agent is real, s/he will try to make you comfortable renting the property. Moreover, you can judge whether the person seems real by meeting the person in real life.
• Personally examine the property—You must explore the property and its papers to confirm no fraud. Though the process may seem exhausting and time-consuming, it is necessary to check so you won't get conned by scammers. Moreover, by making certain that the property is right or not according to your desire, you can decide whether you want to live there. 
• You have to review the rental list thoroughly—Look for it properly and ensure it looks legitimate. If you find plenty of typo errors, scam-like quality, or red flags while screening the list, you are advised to drop it and not contact the agents altogether. You must review the authentic rental apps to ensure your rental list is legitimate. On these sites, all the lists have been checked by the apps, and all the rental properties are ensured to be genuine. 
• Avoid the payments to be made before signing a legal agreement—If the real estate agent or the land owner persuades you to pay a considerable deposit before signing any contract, you won't have to do that. Nor do you have to do any upfront payment to them. Moreover, you must ensure that if you are making payments, the person has the legal and authentic documents of the property. 
• Ensure that tenants and landlords have a police verification. Police verification is the essential step to checking the credibility of the other person. It helps landlords ensure that the tenant has no criminal history and is safe to rent a house to. On the other hand, the tenant can also verify that their landlord holds legitimate property and that there is no issue with the property. This inclusively helps the two and confirms that the property is right and going into the right hands.  

 

Conclusion

It may be possible that you are in a hurry and want to move to the new location immediately. But you must be doubly sure before renting it out to avoid any further complications in your life. However, suppose with various precautions you still got conned by such scammers. In that case, you must inform the local authorities immediately so that they can successfully find those fraudulent people, and you will get your amount back. Moreover, you must contact the listing website so they can eradicate the listing from their website, and no other people get scammed, just as you did.