If you are a prospective tenant in Northern Colorado, have you ever seen a rental home listing that is just too good to be true? You read the advertisement and it is everything you want at a price that doesn’t exceed your budget. Unfortunately, rental advertisement scams are becoming increasingly common on many rental sites.
The scams all follow a similar theme – the “owner” of the property cannot meet with you to show you the home but promises you will love it. They typically give you a story about being overseas and needing to find a tenant. Or, another common one is that they are in the U.S. but have either a medical condition or have a family situation that prevents them from being able to show you the property. So, how do you protect yourself from this? If you can’t view the property, don’t continue the conversation.
If you are a prospective tenant and you end up in a conversation similar to the one above, never give anyone a dollar of your money or sign a contract. Further, do not hand over any of your sensitive information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, or any other personal identifiable information.
So, if it is too good to be true, then it probably is. If you are looking at a 4 bedroom, 3 bath home in Fort Collins and the price is $1095, you can probably be sure that isn’t a real listing. One way to see if the price is a scam is to go look for a listing with that same exact address to see if there is a “real” advertisement that they scraped to make their own. Make sure you stay alert and stay smart during your rental property search.
If you are looking for a rental property in Fort Collins, Loveland, Timnath, Wellington, Windsor, Johnstown, Greeley, Evans, or the surrounding Northern Colorado area, please contact us for help. If you are an investment property owner in need of property management services, we would be honored to serve your needs.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
Agree, it’s still happening on Craigslist as of yesterday. I’m. Not a victim of it but experienced it when looking for a two bedroom with a very tight budget.