Renters Beware!

If you see an offer for a rental property at a very low rate, think twice!  

In our office just last week, we found an ad on the internet for a rental at a very low rate. The advertisement asked prospective tenants to drive by and take a look inside the vacant property. If they liked what they saw, they were to send an $800 deposit and another $800 for the first month's rent and then they would receive the keys in the mail. Funny thing was, this "rental" property was one that we had listed for sale! This guy had no intention of renting his home out to anybody. He wanted to get some quick cash, sell his home, keep all the money for himself and run off somewhere. We reported him to the FBI but who knows how many renters got suckered in by his scam before we found it.

Unfortunately, this kind of difficult economic climate seems to attract scammers who are looking to prey on those in desperate times and make some extra money for themselves. One of the most common rental scams involves homes going into foreclosure. Some homeowners who are facing foreclosure will quickly put their home up for rent, not telling their prospective renters that the home will soon be foreclosed and they'll be out of a home again. The owner will take a deposit and a month or two of rent before the bank takes the home and kicks out the tenants with little to no warning.

Remember the old rule that I've talked about here many times already - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you find a rental property that seems like a great deal, make sure that you research the property as thoroughly as you can to be sure you're not getting scammed.