As a result of the current bad economy, many people are in need of cheap housing. So along comes the ever present con artist who has no trouble posing as a landlord.

Pretend Owner ‘Rents’ Vacant Home

Even criminals are subject to market conditions. If thousands of abandoned homes sit empty and thousands of people are in need of cheap housing, someone is eventually going to put the two together, legal or not.  In this case, the scam artist steps in to take advantage of the situation.

He finds an abandoned property, or two or three (these days, it’s not hard), and creates an online advertisement pretending to be either the owner or someone authorized to rent on the owner’s behalf. He then breaks in, sometimes changing the locks, and typically asks to be paid in cash.

In Las Vegas, a woman arrested for just such a scam had provided a contract and written rental receipts to a mother of two, and instructed the woman to meet her each month in a public location to pay her cash “rent.” Eventually the real owner shows up, finds the family living in his house, and of course, the family is put out on the street.

Tenants in such cases did not intend to occupy a house illegally and aren’t going to be charged with a crime, police say. But the renters are going to have to move on short notice and are unlikely to see their security deposits again.

Scam Variations

1. Fake agent pretends to rent a foreclosed property then splits before the renter moves in

This scam starts in much the same way, except the con artist supplies a throwaway or fake phone number and never supplies the keys to the property. He may also collect a deposit from several victims at a time. In this case, the victim is out both the money and a place to live.

2. Fake property manager pretends to rent out a home that’s for sale

In this case, the con artist hijacks listings of homes that are for sale or rent by legitimate agencies. He may rewrite the ad a bit before posting it online (often on Craigslist, where posts are free), including undercutting the original price by as much as half.

When interested tenants respond, eager to secure such a good deal, the con artist may claim to need a cash deposit or application information – containing personal data that can be mined for identity theft – before arrangements can be made to view the apartment. The scammer may say he is out of state for work, or for some other reason has to rush to rent the apartment from afar.

The con artist may also use the name of an actual leasing agent and agency; when renters go online, they believe they are verifying the self-proclaimed agent’s identity.

3. A real owner rents his foreclosed property

At times the scam artist is a desperate homeowner. Authorities say owners approaching, or in, foreclosure have been renting the property and pocketing the cash, removing eviction signs from the property to keep tenants in the dark as long as possible.

Renters may not learn their money has been taken until eviction day, although government agencies have been working to ensure that tenants get at least three months to move after a confirmed notification.

4. A con artist borrows a real apartment or address and collects deposits and Social Security numbers

Instead of borrowing a listing, the scammer creates his own for an occupied apartment that he has borrowed or even temporarily rented using phony identification. He advertises a low price and creates a sense of urgency to encourage people to hand over cash and an application containing Social Security numbers to hold the unit.

5. A con artist rents a real, but unavailable, apartment to tourists

Anyone can list a property as a vacation or temporary rental, and it attracts those visiting or moving from out of town. But a scammer will request that a security deposit and rent money be wired in advance, as opposed to accepting a credit card or check.

Visitors show up at the address to find no apartment and no valid contact information. Authorities say it is almost impossible to recover money that has been wired, which is almost as untraceable as cash, or even to find the perpetrators.