Yes, Virginia, scammers can take advantage of tenants and home owners in Southwest Florida and the Bonita Springs real estate market is ripe for the picking.
Although you and I don’t think with criminal minds there are other people that do. The real estate market has brought on swift and confusing changes. There are vacant homes, foreclosures, short sales and rentals galore. Bonita Springs, Florida has always been the land of absentee owners. We have even more now with the excessive inventory on the market. The market conditions breed all sorts of scams.
Nation wide rental scams are starting to pop up which homeowners, tenants and consumers need to be aware of. It hadn’t really occurred to me how easy it would be to take advantage of someone looking for a home to rent until now. There are even scammers that rent homes with the intent to show and rent the home to other tenants. They get the security, first, last or whatever monies they can get and then they leave town. In some circumstances they have written dozens of leases to dozens of tenants and skip town with a boat load of cash.
Sometimes the scammers just act as though they work on behalf of the home owner, as the homeowner is out of town, out of the country, ill, hospitalized, etc. The victim pays the money and the person who rented them the home disappears. They later learn the house or apartment was not for rent. Of course, their wallets are lighter when they find out.
What can you do to protect yourself if you are a tenant looking for a home or condominium to rent in the Bonita Springs area? There are a few ways to check to make sure the person who says they own the property actually owns the property. Continue Reading
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Buyers and Sellers of real estate deserve the truth, responsiveness and information. Let me show you why Bonita Springs, Florida is a great place to live and invest in real estate.
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Gee, unbelievable scam.Haven't heard of it here yet, but we always check tax records for offers etc... Of course the go it alone to find a rental people do not know how to do this. Makes it even more important to work with a professional.
Wow, that is very interesting. In these hard times some people feel like they have been cheated by this market that they deserve to do the same to others.
Its just outrageous
Great information Chris. I have rental calls everyday (I don't do rentals), and now I have a reference sheet when I refer them to a rental agent.
This is some very serious information and obviously well researched for both tenants and landlords. You serve your clients and community very well!
So many scams, so little time. Great suggestions.
Sending this link to our property management company. Thanks, Chris!
Outstanding information for anyone in the RE industry! Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
Oh wow. You're absolutely right about scammers coming up with ideas that would never even occur to most people. Good job, posting this info!
It is scary what people will try and get away with. Renters need to be careful. I recently heard a story were the same woman has had to move three times in the last year because the properties she rents keep going into foreclosure. She keeps losing her security deposit and is stuck with high expenses.
It occurred to me some time ago that it would be very easy for a con artist to take rental deposits for a property that didn't belong to them. You give excellent advice about how to protect yourself.