Topic: Avoid Potential Fraud
Tenants caution of Landlords who say they are from out of town and ask you to send security deposits for a property you are not able to physically view. Do not exchange any money with anyone until you confirm that this property exists and the Landlord or property manager is the person he or she claims to be. For out of town renters do not send security deposits unless you are 100% certain. Ask the Landlord to email or fax documentation showing they own the property, i.e. Land title certification, tax assessments, etc.
We (HomeRENT.ca) have recently seen a few listings on our site which are not legitimate ads. We are typically advised by renters, through the feedback link on every ad, that the phone number is out of service.
Please forward any suspicious listings to HomeRENT.ca
Calgary CTV consumer watch ran this story on Nov 30 2007
Rental scam
calgary.ctv.ca
POSTED AT 12:43 PM Friday, November 30
A Calgary landlord wants to know who is masquerading as her on the Internet and trying to rent out her property.
Several weeks ago, Marcia Roy-Atkinson posted online a house for rent.
She was asking $1700/month and thought it odd that she was receiving very few calls.
It turns out someone else had copied the ad, cut the rent in half and reposted it online.
They also attached their own contact information to the ad and asked for a $1,000 rental deposit upfront.
Paul Creurer looked into renting the property and received an email requesting the deposit to be sent, via Western Union, to Nigeria. The email said once the money was received, Creurer would be sent the key and rental documents.
Creurer says the email was suspicious because, it's almost as though it's been translated through an online translation.
Atkinson-Roy says she spoke to the Calgary Police Service about the matter. She is waiting to hear if anything can be done to stop this from happening again.