If it sounds too good to be true - IT IS! Student Renters Beware....

Unfortunately, any transaction involving exchange of funds can be vulnerable to fraud, and that includes sales, lease and rental of real estate.

The most common involve rentals as the amount of money involved is substantially less than during a purchase, but can still be an expensive lesson.

THE SCAMS

The disappearing deposit - this scam involves the advertising of a property for rent, often vacant and at a substantially reduced amount relative to current market values. Usually the scam artists "scrapes" information from a legitimate source for a real property and advertises it in a newspaper, on Kijiji or some other medium.

People who are desperate, either because of time or money, often put common sense aside and mail the "security deposit" (because the landlord is an out of town owner) usually equivalent to a month or two of rent, and are told to go pick up a key somewhere or that one will be sent to them.

Obviously, the key never comes and those people are now at a few thousand dollars.

A variation of this scam often occurs mid-summer as university students start looking for housing for the fall semester....

The scammer usually sublets a summer vacancy (there are a lot) until September 1st and during July and August advertises his unit for rent for September 1st.  With student housing at a premium and with the rental unit temporarily in his possession, he can show the unit and accept deposits from dozens of unsuspecting students.

September 1st he is gone and there are several confused "tenants" waiting to get into a unit that isn't theirs.

 PROTECT YOURSELF

The best protection really is common sense.  If it sounds to good to be true, it's not true that it probably isn't - IT ISN'T!

Google the address and see if other ads appear with different contact information.  If it does, contact the different people and corroborate the information and determine who the true landlord is.

Make sure the "landlord" can show you the property himself and, at a different time and date go back to the property and knock on the door to see who answers.  It it is a tenant or someone different, ask them who the landlord is.

Hopefully this little public service announcement will help prevent at least someone from being defrauded.

Please contact me if you have any questions!