It appears that fraud in the South Florida home rental industry is just one more indication of how hard times create opportunity for the unscrupulous. Internet scams on rental properties are on the rise. I know this because one of my own listings was used by a fraudster to perpetrate a scam on a free classified ad website just this past month. Sadly, two families looking for a home allegedly fell for the scam and lost money in the process. In addition, I just heard of another agent whom I know personally to be a first class professional in my area who saw one of his listings on a popular website that offers free classified ads. It said "Brokers Not Welcome". Clearly a scam.
My only advice to owners is to list your rental property with a reputable Realtor. If you are an absentee landlord (you cannot effectively manage and maintain the property yourself due to personal circumstances or logistics), please consider hiring a professional property manager.
For renters, please use internet resources that promote properties offered by members of the National Association of Realtors in your search efforts (Realtor.com, ColdwellBanker.com, FloridaMoves.com) . Free classified ad websites do little, if any, due diligence in verifying the legitimacy of their ads. Realtors are licensed agents who are accountable to government authorities and are bound by the NAR Code of Ethics. Beyond that, if something on the internet looks too good to be true, it probably is. It's ancient advice, but tried and true.
In our modern days and catastrophical economy, crooks take every single opportunity to commit fraud. What it tells you, is that our eyes and mind needs to function beyond 100%. Those are real smart thieves.
ReplyDeleteAlways the innocent pays the consequences of such actions. Been in the lookout like a beacon this is how we must see things. Too easy to believe? Check it twice or more. We living a Wild Wild West days.....always looking to be safe.
Lolly Gonzalez