![]() "If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't right," Mermelstein said. "If a landlord is willing to bait and switch, they might not be someone you want to rent from," Edward Mermelstein, a real estate attorney at One & Only Realty in New York, told Business Insider. "They'll only show you one of the rooms, or not disclose it's right next to train tracks that'll keep you up all night," Coon said. "When they meet to view said apartment, it is no longer available, and other apartments are shown as an alternative that don't usually fit the original criteria," New York real estate agent James Wan told Business Insider.Īlternately, there might never have been a great property to begin with - just a terrible apartment with good PR. In one version, an agent lists an attractive-looking apartment to lure clients, and then scams the apartment hunter when they arrive to see it. "But apartment hunters can see this as well."īait-and-switching can take various forms. "This happens a lot in the short-term space," Coon said, referring to Airbnb-style rentals. It's no surprise that it happens in real estate as well. Make sure you know about the most common apartment scams.īait-and-switch tactics - offering one thing but actually selling another - are a common trick in lots of retail businesses. You probably won't ever get it back," Coon said. "Never wire money to someone if you aren't confident they're who they say they are, because once you do, the money is gone. That can mean looking up the person online and calling the office to make sure you're dealing with a legitimate agent. You should vet the listing agent before handing over any money to be sure that he or she is, at the very least, an actual agent or the landlord with the legal authority to rent the apartment. It's especially dangerous to try to rent an apartment remotely, from out of state, but if you're willing to take that risk, insist on a tour of the location via FaceTime.īut even that may not be enough. Seeing a listing online isn't enough in an age when anyone can copy and paste photos and a description. "Scammers place fraudulent listings, and when someone reaches out to them, they're instructed to wire money in order for them to hold it or take it off the market," he told Business Insider. Ryan Coon, CEO of online property management platform Avail, has seen it happen numerous times. Fake listings pop up disturbingly frequently both on Craigslist and on traditional rental sites, and according to Apartment List, an estimated 5.2 million renters have lost money to rental scams. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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