St Louis Home Loan: Rental Fraud Is Real And Becoming A Big Problem

It is hard to believe that there are people who advertise homes for rent online that do not have any legal ownership yet do so to defraud innocent consumers according to St Louis finance experts.

They start by advertising a home that has wonderful amenities which in turn gets you extremely excited thinking how wonderful it would be to move in as quickly as possible.

Upon further reading, you notice the ad turns negative as they carefully and succinctly describe their unfortunate lives at this time and the fact that they cannot seem to sell their home due to the economy. So, they have decided to rent this house.

Excuses start to compile as they tell you that it is the fault of an inept real estate agent or company and they have no alternative but to rent this wonderful house.

Most of these advertisers will not ask you to submit an application and to expedite matters to include a down payment and or the first month’s rent and then ask you to remove the “for sale” sign out of the yard.

It is sad that those truly needing a home are being taken advantage of by these real estate criminals who are getting better at lying and advertising.

Here are some tips to protect you and your money from rental fraud:

1. If you see an advertisement for a rental home that looks like a repetitive form letter, it may be best to avoid this ad.

2. Read the e-mail carefully and see if they answer any questions you submitted in your inquiry. If not, it probably is a form letter.

3. Once you ascertain the address of the property, type it into Google with the zip code if possible. You will definitely pull up listings on the search engines about this property such as is it listed “for sale.” Jot down the real estate agent’s phone number and call about this property for rent. If the agent says it is not, you were a target of rental fraud from an anonymous person. Report this to the agent and where you saw this property advertised for rent.

4. It is a good idea to avoid meeting the owner of the house anywhere else other than the location of the rental property.

5. The supposed homeowner should be able to meet you at the rental property location and let you in the house to view it. If not, run, don’t walk.

6. And last but not least, never give cash or send cash to someone that is in another town as this definitely sounds like rental fraud. And for obvious legal reasons, never remove a “for sale” sign from a yard. You may be a good Samaritan but save the goodwill gestures for someone truly in need.

Dennis Norman, a local writer for the St. Louis Real Estate News brought out a good point as to rental fraud.

Renters need to know that scammers duplicate postings from legitimate real estate sites, alters them, and reposts them. Often, the scammers use the broker’s real name to create a fake e-mail address, which gives the fraud more legitimacy. When the victim sends an e-mail through the website inquiring about the home, they receive a response from someone claiming to be the owner.

Many say they are doing some type of missionary work and need to rent their former home out. They then ask you to send money to them at their foreign address and thus you lose your money.

Although it takes some time, real estate agents or their assistants may also want to briefly check the places where they advertise their properties as to avoid any future complaints from those who may have fallen victim to these fraudulent ads.

Now that information is easily attainable, you should be able to do a little checking before committing to a rental property.

And remember to never let your emotions get the best of you. Yes, it may be the best home for you and your family and yes, the price may be too hard to pass up.

These tips that are recommended by St Louis mortgage brokers and real estate agents will help you avoid losing your money and valuable time.

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