Tips for Avoiding Trouble During Your Home Search

If you’re looking for a rental home, the last thing you want is to fall victim to a rental scam. Scam artists like to take advantage of prospective tenants because emotions involved in the process can make people more vulnerable.

For instance, if you’re feeling excitement and enthusiasm about finding a new home, your eagerness might make you become more trusting. Scam artists also prey on renters 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.
Fortunately, there are ways renters can lower the likelihood of getting caught up in a rental scam.
Here’s what you should keep in mind:

What’s a Rental Scam?

Rental scams are a variation on a theme. The scammer tries to get money from a prospective tenant for a home that the scammer is in no legal position to rent. The home might be real (in which case, the scammer doesn’t have the authority to lease it) or fictitious. The scammer could be a real landlord or, more likely, an impostor.

Scammers typically try to get money from an unsuspecting renter and then disappear. For example, a tenant who’s vacating his rental property might decide to show it, pretending to be the landlord. He might lead all prospects to believe they’re getting that home and collect fees and security deposits upfront. Once the prospects realize they’ve been scammed, the scammer has usually vanished with their money.

Follow the General Rule

Don’t let your guard down when looking for a rental property. Just because you use a reputable search Web site doesn’t mean unscrupulous landlords or people posing as landlords who manage to get their listings onto these sites can’t scam you. If something feels wrong with a listing, the application process feels rushed, or the whole experience just seems to good to be true, it may be wise not to pursue it.

Avoid Common Red Flags

Here are some common red flags to help you spot and avoid rental scams while looking for a rental property:

• You’re asked to send money without having met anyone or seen the home. It’s not common to pay a lot of money for something sight-unseen. So, if a landlord expects you to pay a large sum up front, it’s a reason to be concerned. Don’t rely on promises or photos, but actually visit any home you’re considering renting. According to a warning on Craigslist, not following this one rule accounts for 99% of scam attempts.
• The landlord seems too eager to lease the home to you. Many landlords want to know your credit score, and they may also want more information about you, such as a criminal background check and employment verification. If a landlord doesn’t seem interested in any form of tenant screening or appears too eager to negotiate the rent and other lease terms with you, it’s suspicious.
• You’re asked to pay an unusually high security deposit or too many upfront fees. If the landlord wants a higher security deposit than what’s considered normal or required by law, or if upfront fees seem excessive to you, it could be a sign that the landlord wants to take your money and run.
• You feel unwarranted sales pressure. If a landlord acts too pushy, it can be a red flag.
• You’re told you don’t need a lawyer. It’s true you don’t need a lawyer to review your lease, and generally speaking, it’s in a landlord’s best interest for you to skip lawyer review and just take the rental. But when a landlord makes a point of saying that you don’t need a lawyer, it could be a sign that the landlord is trying to rush you into signing the lease and handing over money, perhaps because he doesn’t really own the building or already leased the home to someone else.
• You’re told you don’t need a lease. It’s true you don’t need a lease to live in a rental property. Although renting a home under a lease is the most typical situation and a true landlord or management company will most likely require one. If a landlord tries to get money from you without considering that you might want a lease, think twice. It could be that the “landlord” doesn’t have any lease to show you.
• The landlord has a convenient excuse for not being able to meet you or show the property. The person behind a listing might say he’s out of the country indefinitely or that he won’t return until after you would need to agree to the rental and pay money.

What If You Get Scammed?

If you become the victim of a rental scam in the United States, you might feel there’s not much you can do. But there are steps you can take to help catch who’s behind the scam, get your money back, and put this unfortunate experience in the past.

Many potential renters don’t take action after becoming the victim of a rental scam. Some don’t act because of strong feelings, such as fear, embarrassment, anger, or denial. Others do nothing because they don’t realize the options available to them. But taking action after a rental scam can make you feel empowered, and your actions might help catch the person behind the scam, stop the scam from continuing and hurting others, and get your money back.

What You Can Do After a Scam

Here are seven things you can do if you become the victim of a rental scam:

1. Call the police. You should let your local law enforcement know if you’ve been scammed. Even if you don’t feel optimistic about pursuing this option, the information you supply the police might be enough to help them apprehend the scammer and get your money returned. Also, until you contact the authorities, you won’t know if you’re the only victim of this scam. If the police have already been investigating the same scam, then any information you can add about it will be very helpful.
2. Contact the publisher behind the ad. If the scam originated from an advertisement, let the publisher know about what happened. Many print and online publishers take scams very seriously and would appreciate knowing about problems with their listings. Look up the customer service phone number or e-mail address on the publisher’s Web site. Some publishers go the extra step of asking readers who believe they’ve been scammed to send them the details. For example, if you believe you became the victim of a scam after responding to a posting on Craigslist, tell Craigslist what happened by completing the site’s short online form.
3. File a complaint with the FTC. If you become the victim of a rental scam in the United States, consider reporting it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal consumer protection agency.
4. Look for a lesson. No matter how it happened, you’re not to blame for becoming the victim of a rental scam. But perhaps there was a warning sign you ignored or a way you could have been even more careful. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say, and so after a rental scam, it pays to take a moment to see if there’s a lesson to be learned.
5. Review the red flags. Although rental scams always seem to strike when we least expect, there are some common warning signs. Get familiar with the red flags noted above to help identify and avoid rental scams.
6. Don’t get discouraged. After falling victim to a rental scam, it’s easy to lose hope of finding the perfect rental property or to get angry at the whole process and begin to suspect everyone. But it’s important not to get discouraged. Don’t lose sight of the fact that nothing has changed as far as finding a rental home is concerned. There were and always will be scammers, so realize that home hunting didn’t suddenly become more dangerous or difficult. Also, keep in mind that although it’s a good idea to look out for red flags, the vast majority of rental ads out there are legitimate, thankfully.
7. Share your story. Consider sharing your story with others through websites. Writing about the experience (which you can do anonymously) can make you feel better. Plus, reading others’ stories may help remind you that you’re not alone. Rental scams happen to the best of us.