Charlotte Property Management Weekly: Another Ploy in Rental Home Fraud

At this point, most people are aware of the rental scam where a prospective tenant answers your ad and:




1. Loves your house and wants to move in soon

2. Asks you if you will accept a year in rent upfront (duh- yeah!) by certified check (double yeah!!)

3. Then they send you several thousand dollars more than the one year rent (by accident…) and asks you to send the balance to Texas via Western Union

4. After sending the balance (real money) to their Western Union account, your bank notifies you that their certified check was from a bank that doesn’t exist (fake money)

5. You’re out a tenant and a couple thousand bucks



This scam was highly successful and snagged many people. A warning about this scam is included in most rental websites; that’s how successful it was!



Perhaps the next “big thing” in rental fraud is high-jacked rental house ads. We just started managing a property and were surprised when potential tenants started contacting us about a different Craig’s List ad on the same house (at a much lower rental rate); they were wondering which of the Craig’s List ads for this rental house was legitimate.



Below is the content of the e-mail response from the fraudulent guy after a potential expresses initial interest (Note: the real rental rate for this house is $1,300 - $1,400/month):



Thanks for your response and interest in my house. Calvary greetings to you, also to your household (sic).






The house is very much available and it is a large 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms house. Which was formally occupied by me and my wife before we left for Nigeria for a pastoral duty, we left for a volunteer mission together with other missionaries for a development program with the aim of developing the people of west Africa physically and spiritually as God as directed us. We wanted to sale the house initially but we later changed our mind after we discovered that we wouldn't be spending more than 3 years here in Africa. So I contacted the agent back and requested for my keys and documents. Later we decided to have the house rented out, we would have give the same agent this job also but the truth of the matter is that the agent would want to handle it professionally and the occupant may not be able to reason along with him later. If you notice, you will discover that the price we are offering is far below standard price, this is enough for you to know that we are not after the rental fee but the absolute care for the property.






So as you know where the house is located at XXXXXXXXXXX which my family and I have spent so much time and money to maintain it up till its standard. We have been trying our best to make the house as clean as possible, because am a clean person and we don't like dirt around our surroundings and also the Bible says cleanliness is next to Godliness.






So we are looking for a well-behaved, clean and honest tenant to rent out our house too. So will like you to give us your word and promise us that you will take good care of our house so that we will be happy when we come to visit you in the future... We accept short or long-term rent and month to month also.... All the utilities are included in the rent... Pets are allowed. So kindly get back to us with this information below.






RENT APPLICATION FORM


Full Name_________________________________________________


Home Phone_____________________


Date of Birth_________________________________


Other Phone ________________


Current Address __________________________________________________


Reasons for Leaving_Foreclosure___________________________Rent $__________Phone ( )____________


Are you married________________Yes____________


How many people will be living in the house____________________________


Do you have a pet___________Yes_________________


Do you have a car___________Yes_________________


Occupation____________________________


Your Exact move in date____________________________


How soon can you make the deposit payment________________________


How soon do you want to receive the keys and documents of the house________________________






Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that I can have it in my file in case of issuing the receipt for you and contacting you. Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the document and the key to you, please we are giving you all this base on trust and again I will want you to stick to your words, you know that we do not see our self's yet and only putting everything into God’s hand, so please do not let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this. I am looking forward to hear from you.


Best Regards


Note: the Rent is $800 and security deposit is $700






Total Move-In Cost: $1,500


Pastor XXXXXXX


Please call me at +234-704-147-8446 or 011-234-704-147-8446



Be careful! Cyberspace can be a dangerous place!



Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes. His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)