Reno Rentals Are Now at a Premium: Avoid Reno Rental Scams

While I was helping a couple of relocation clients try to find temporary housing while they look for a more permanent home in the area, I found that Reno rentals are now at a premium.  It appears that short sale victims who need a place to live while their home is going through the short sale process are gobbling up the Reno rentals left and right.  This was an unexpected side effect of the Reno short sale market for me.  While there are still affordable rental units available (both houses and apartments), the supply is getting smaller and smaller. 

If you decide to look for a home to rent online, beware of the online Reno rental scams that can happen when using such things as Craigslist.  While Craigslist does have legitimate Reno rentals listed, do your research before handing any money over to anyone.  A big scam happening right now in the Reno rental marketplace is similar to the emails you may receive from time to time from someone outside of the country who has come into an inheritance but needs your help in order to access it.  You simply have to give them your banking information or wire a "transfer fee" to a Swiss account and you are guaranteed to receive thousands of dollars for your trouble.  Wrong!

In the case of an online rental scam, the person takes an actual rental listing on Craigslist for a Reno area home (so that they know the house is empty and available for rent), cuts out the real website and contact info, inserts what looks like a legitimate local number and waits for someone to contact them about that fantastic home at an amazingly low price.  The scam artist will give you a story about how they are going on a mission and will be out of the country for a couple of years (or some other issue that takes them out of the country for an extended period of time) and all they need is for someone to rent the home from them to help offset the cost of keeping their home until they get back.

If you drive past the home, you will see that it really is a legitimate address.  In fact, some scammers may even search public records to find the name of the owners of the house and use that to further make it seem like it's theirs.  The scam artist will then request that you send a cashier's check to an address out of the country (where they are located at the moment) and tell you that "a friend" will drop off the keys once they receive the check in the mail.  You will never see either the keys or your money again.

The price range for Reno rental scams appear to be in the $700-$800 range.  This is low enough to attract interest yet high enough to make it appear to be possibly legit.  If the ad has a lack of any contact info, consider this a red flag.  If you are told the deposit can only be a cashier check and sent to an address out of the country, consider that another red flag.  If you can't deal face-to-face with the person, it most likely is a scam.

Contact local real estate offices or rent finders to see if they have any listings.  You will need to be very proactive in investigating a property online to make sure you don't get caught up in a scam.  Especially now that Reno rentals are at a premium. 

Charlene Hamilton, your Reno relocation expert

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