How to Avoid Online Home Rental Scams

There are so many good people out there who are trying to find home rentals right now amid soaring foreclosure rates and a declining real estate market that has made buying a home nearly impossible for most people. The saddest part about these types of economic dilemmas is that they comprise a breeding ground for scammers, who want nothing more than to take advantage of people’s good intentions, and take their money and run. It is certainly a tragedy that some people will get scammed when it comes to renting a home, but the good news is that there are ways to identity home rental scams and avoid them—if you know the signs of what to look for. Read on and see what popular home rental scams are currently going on, and what you can do to identify them and avoid them so you do not become the next victim of these terrible schemes. What to Look for When Renting a Home First you want to do your homework. Research the area and see what homes are for rent. Never take a renters word for how a home is, always go and have a look at it yourself before making any commitments. Compare home rentals and their monthly costs in the area and see which one offers the most amenities and the best monthly rate. Then do some more online research of the home and make sure that it is not listed as a foreclosure or pre foreclosure. This is a recent common scam. Scammers and fraudsters will find homes that are foreclosed and vacant and pretend to be legitimate home owners, representing the homes to prospective renters and renting them out. Once they get the money they disappear. The renter is left footing the bill and shortly after finds out that they are being evicted from the home that was not really up for rent at all. How to Avoid Common Home Rental Scams The best way to avoid common home rental scams is to always research the county recorders office in your local area to make sure that the deed holder to the home is really the deed holder, as they so claim to be. Then make sure that you are actually renting the home from the actual owner. Always us a written check made payable to the owner, so if you do get scammed there is paper trail; never use money orders to pay the first months rent. And, finally, the best way to avoid getting scammed with a home rental is to go through a reputable property management firm who manages properties for the owners. This way you can assure that everything is on the up and up. Why the Scammers Target the Online Ads Many people get scammed by scammers who take out ads on sites like Craigslist.com and pretend to be home owners, when quite often the home owners are out of town, or have the house up for sale, or use it as a vacation home. Only a few weeks, or sometimes even months afterwards, the renters find out they have been duped, but the scammer is long gone by that time. Rather, do your research, if it’s too good to be true, it is. And always insist upon meeting the owners, unless you are going through a trusted source or property management company.