Apartment rental scams are annoying as much as they are damaging to young working class adults. I get a high level of stress and anxiety during an apartment application from this alone. This is because no one wants to get an apartment, only to find out it is not what it was hyped to be. It ruins the experience of moving out for the first time for some renters.
There is also the emotional anguish which comes with it, once you realize the apartment rental fraud. Now, apartment rental scams do not necessarily mean your money was swindled. Sometimes, it is just apartment rentals lying to you in order to fill a bad apartment they have been trying to rent for months.
So, how do apartment scams work?
Apartment scams work by trying to sell a place without showing its shortcomings. Either that, or shady people trying to rent you a place which does not exist. It is particularly bad on websites showcasing apartments for rent. Although some of these websites try their best to restrict scammers from setting up shops, I believe some legitimate apartments run their own little apartment rental frauds too.
We see this, when they do not show the current picture of what their apartment complex look like. Or even worse, when they lie about the condition of their apartment they are trying to rent to us. Not to mention the online reviews they buy sometimes, to convince potential tenants of their great customer service, availability and quick maintenance time.
On this episode of the WeeklyBagel podcast, I talked about how I narrowly escaped getting a cockroach-infested apartment. You can listen to the episode, because what I talked more than I am going write about here. Anyway, below is how you could see through these rental apartment scams.
How To Spot Apartment Scams
Apartment rental listing scam is easy to pick up on any listing website. This is as long as you are pragmatic in your approach. Here are the signs of apartment scams I want you to watch out for during your apartment application.
1. No Physical Tour Of the Apartment
I want you to always tour an apartment before you consider renting or submitting an application. This is because all that glitters is not gold. The beautiful apartment you saw on an apartment listing website, may just be trash.
Or worse, it may be just a rendezvous for cockroaches and rats.
I am not even exaggerating. Apartments are good at running this kind of scam. They will dress up a trashy pest-infested apartment to look luxurious enough to be rented. Then, they will take a picture, photoshop and have it on a listing website ready for rent.
When an apartment or house rental refuses to let you tour the place before applying, it is a big red flag. No matter what the excuses are, they are hiding something. I highly recommend you do not rent from such a place.
Now, do not get me wrong.
Sometimes, apartments may not have the apartment you want available due to the tenant not moving out yet. However, good apartments usually have a backup they show you to get a grasp of the apartment floor plan. Apartments who do not want you to come in and see the place are likely running rental apartment scams of some sorts.
2. Unrealistic Online Photos
You can tell an apartment rental listing scam from a real one, when the online photos look unrealistic. The photos are one of the ways to tell if an apartment listing is fake. What do I mean by this, my dear WeeklyBagel reader and listener?
The photos of the apartment on the apartment look photoshopped. For example: some years back, I was looking for an apartment in the city of San Antonio. An apartment listed photos of their apartment with palm trees everywhere. Having lived in this city, I knew palm trees do not grace our city or survive on it because of the bipolar weather.
Guess what?
I drove there to see for myself. The site was more pitiful than I imagined. The apartment complex was old and worn out with no single tree on its property.
This is why I always say to trust your gut feelings on things like this one. If the photos look unrealistic or photoshopped, there is a high chance it is a rental listing scam to entice you to apply for the apartment.
3. Quick To Ask For Money
One of the signs of apartment scams is leasing agents being in a rush to get you settled. This includes asking you for money to fast forward things. This is not limited to asking you to pay rent in advance. Or, pay in order for them to get a report from the credit bureau apartments use for credit check.
Usually, apartments will not ask you for money to run a credit check or background check on you. Although they need your consent to run it, they do not need your money. At least, big legitimate apartment complexes usually do not ask for money.
So, it becomes a red flag when they do.
Additionally, they are not supposed to ask for your first month rent before you see the place or get approved. I would be wary of such apartments asking for an unreasonable amount of money upfront before running their credit and background checks. This is because there are rental application fees scams out there too.
4. Waiving Due Process So “You Can Move In” Early
Any apartment offering to waive your credit, income or background check, so you can move in early is running some sort of angle. As a potential tenant, I want to know why. This is because apartments are businesses. Businesses like to minimize risks and liabilities, so they can make profit consistently.
Hence, the credit checks apartment do to sieve through bad tenants. You can read about the credit score required for apartment rental. The article tells you why your credit score may affect you trying to get a place of your own.
Property scams will try to waive these due processes to you. This is because they are trying to “get you to move in” quickly before the space is gone. Please do not try to fall for these rental listing scams.
Unless you live in a city of a few hundred people, you are probably one of hundreds applying for the same apartment. So, legitimate landlords usually will take their time to select the best applicant. This is why they run income, credit and background checks. You need to meet the qualifications to be considered a potential tenant.
On the whole, you can spot apartment scams easily using the above. If it seems shady, it is shady. I would say to trust your gut instincts. Look for evidences contradicting your gut feelings. It is how detect rental fraud.
Having said that, here is how you can avoid apartment rental scams.
How To Avoid Rental Scams
Firstly, see the place for yourself. It is the best way to avoid apartment rent scams. I want you to check the rugs and corners for signs of bugs. If you find one, it means there is a whole village of them hiding somewhere.
Also, it helps to ask people living in the apartment complexes about their experience. You will always find someone there to talk to. Most people will be open-minded to sharing their apartment experiences with you.
Secondly, get everything in writing. One thing I have observed about renting apartments in the United States of America is base rent does not mean it is what you pay monthly. A base rent of $1000 does not take into consideration other associated charges.
This is why I want you to ask the apartment complex for a detailed estimate of what their monthly rent would be. This includes hidden fees like apartment collections, water, sewage, pet or maintenance fees. You will be avoiding rental scams by asking a printed record of these estimates.
It is important, because these hidden fees can add up to $100 or more monthly. Some varies, so it is easy for apartments to hike it whenever they want. I am talking from a personal experience. When you ask them about these, ask them whether these charges are constant or variable. That way, you can avoid landlord scams.
Thirdly, apply for apartment in person, when it is possible. You avoid rental apartment scams in the form of fake rental listing. Online platforms are notorious for this sort of scam. You probably have heard of Craigslist housing rental scams. Yes- it is not just Craigslist, but Facebook are victims to it. You eliminate falling a victim to these scammers, when you apply in person.
Where To Report Apartment Complexes
You can report a rental scam to the following below:
- local law enforcement
- FBI- when it is monetary. If you are a victim of rental application fees scams, it is considered fraud.
- The FTC at report fraud.ftc.gov
The best you can do is to avoid rental apartment scams. As I mentioned on this episode of the podcast, prevention is better than cure. I would rather you avoid apartment scams, than manage one you have gotten yourself into. This is because managing the situation is stressful.
I want you to have a comfortable place where the world’s ills are left at bay, each time you step into your home. The chance of this happening increases, when you can identify rental scams. Trust me on this one!
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