St Louis Finance and In-House Financing News: Rental Properties That Sound Too Good To Be True May Cost You Dearly
St. Louis Home Mortgage and Commercial Loans | Customer Financing and Principal Reduction Program | 314-334-0210 | Floyd Tapia, Consumer Finance Consultant

SCAM ALERT: Rental Fraud

There were reports in 2010 about people who advertise rental properties that do not legally belong to them according to Home For Sale Saint Louis experts. And it hasn’t gone away.

They advertise a house for rent online saying how beautiful this home is. They suck you in with all the amenities and ask that you request an application.

These would be owners also include a well written letter describing their plight on not being able to sell their home (which in today’s mortgage crisis is not really that far off course) and have decided to rent it instead and that you would be helping them out.

They go on to suggest that they did not like the real estate agent or company who was trying to sell their home and have decided to take it off the market.

But the clincher is you as the new renter must submit an application with the down payment and first month’s rent and then do the homeowner a big favor… the removal of the “for sale” sign off the lawn.

This real estate hoax has not gone away. The perpetrators utilize better forms of advertising and prey upon the sympathies of those needing a home.

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

1. When you look for a home to rent, look at the reply letter. If it looks like a “form” letter, red flags should go up immediately.

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. Never, ever meet someone at a different location other than the address of the rental property after you have done your due diligence on the Internet and made any phone calls necessary.

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.

On March 15, 2010, Dennis Norman of the St. Louis Real Estate News had this to say in his article entitled: “How to avoid being a victim of a real estate rental scam” -

Look out for: The scammer duplicates 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.

The “owner” typically says he and his wife are doing missionary work in a foreign country and need someone to rent their home while they are away. If the victim is interested, he or she is asked to send money to the “owner” in the foreign country. These funds go directly to the scammer, and the would-be renter loses his or her money.

WARNING: Real estate agents or their assistants (although no fault of their own) may also want to briefly check the places where they advertise their properties as to avoid any future complaints and irate phone calls from those who may have fallen victim to these scams.

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.

But keep in mind nothing feels worse than getting ripped off especially if it costs you your hard earned cash that none of us today can afford to throw away.

Below we have included an actual example of an e-mail that was sent in response to a rental property in St. Louis, Missouri in the 63109 zip code area and the initial advertisement of said rental property.

Carefully read the tone of this letter and hopefully this will save unnecessary heartache and financial woes to good people trying to locate a new home for their family.

Good house rental searching for you.

This information brought to you by Floyd Tapia at (314) 334-0210.

(Advertisement Dated 2011-02-08 – St. Louis housing | apts/housing for rent)

$700 / 3br – Single-Family Home (Saint Louis MO 63109)

This updated home in the very desireable 63109 area of Southwest City has been completely renovated! This home was redisigned to include a main floor master suite with a luxury bath and large walk in closet! There are two bedrooms, a loft/den area and a full bath upstairs. Check out these updates-New electrical, plimbing, HVAC systems, hot water heater, six panel doors, fresh carpet, insulated windows, roof, vinyl siding, gleaming hardwood floors in the great room and ceramic tile in the kitchen and bathrooms. You will love the largegourmet kitchen and breakfast room! Enjoy sitting on your covered front porch with your morning coffee or… entertaining on your covered back porch! This stylish home has all of the updates that you want for today’s lifestyle! Walk to parks, restaurants and shopping! Great highway access! You must see this charming home to appreciate the perfect blend of style, updates and old world charm that is all here!

• cats are OK – purrr
• dogs are OK – wooof
• Location: Saint Louis MO 63109
• it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

(Actual rental response on file. Dated: Wed, February 9, 2011 4:22:02 AM)

Hello.

Thanks for your response. GOD bless you for your interest about my House,Yes is still available for rent.. I am renting this House to a capable and also responsible and neat person or family who has the fear of GOD and treat my House as his or her own… Presently I and my wife have work for USAID.USAID works in agriculture, democracy & governance, economic growth, the environment, education, health, global partnerships, and humanitarian assistance in more than 100 countries to provide a better future for all. USAID still faces an uncertain future. In many developing countries, HIV/AIDS and health issues are having a dramatic impact on social cohesiveness and economic strength, blocking the very development goals we seek. Virtually all the new democracies in the world today are fragile; others are democracies more in name than substance. Nearly a quarter of the people living in developing countries, or about one billion people, live in absolute poverty.. There are a host of other threats – ranging from terrorism to infectious disease and violent conflict – that challenge us and the developing nations we seek to help. Here is USAID Web address:- http://www.usaid.gov
USAID efforts to foster world-wide economic growth and increased trade,and tackling cross-border issues such as the spread of
HIV/AIDS and trafficking in persons… To safe the life of peoples from primitive death that claims the souls of younger ages as a result of casual
sex gave us transfer to West Africa and we will be away for 5 years or more and this is why we are actually renting out our House,so if you are
interested and will take good care of our House then we will be ready to accept you as our future tenant and family friend. If you really impress me
by taking proper good care of our House, then you will be allowed to stay as long as you wish okay.

House Address: xxxx Blow Street, Saint Louis MO 63109
(Actual number address removed for legal and privacy reasons!)

TAKE NOTE: I PUT UP THE HOUSE FOR SALE BEFORE WE LEFT SINCE WE DON’T SEE CAPABLE AND ALSO RESPONSIBLE PERSON TO HANDOVER THE PROPERTY TOO,AND I DON’T WANT TO MAKE USE OF ANY THIRD PARTY SINCE WE HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED BY 2 OF THEM BEFORE WHEN WE TRAVEL TO CANADA. SINCE THEN MY WIFE ADVICE ME NOT TO DEAL WITH ANYONE OF THEM AGAIN. BUT WHEN WE GET TO WEST AFRICA DUE TO SOME REASON, MY WIFE ADVICE ME NOT TO SALE THE HOME AGAIN THAT WE CAN STILL SEE SOMEONE CAPABLE AND ALSO RESPONSIBLE THAT WILL BE WILLING TO TAKE PROPER GOOD CARE OF THE HOUSE AS IF IT WERE HIS OR HER OWN. SO I CONTACT A FRIEND AND HE INTRODUCED ME TO CRIAGLIST AND SAID WE CAN SEE A RESPONSIBLE PERSON FROM THEIR,I NOW POSTED IT FOR RENT. SO NOW IS FOR RENT,NOT FOR SALE IN CASE YOU SEE ANY SIGN WHEN YOU DRIVE BY,DON’T BOTHER TO CALL BECAUSE AM NOT WORKING WITH THEM AGAIN AND I HAVE ALREADY CONTACT THEM IN THE STATE THAT WE ARE NOT SELLING THE HOUSE ANYMORE THAT THEY SHOULD REMOVE THE SIGN OUT AND IF THE SIGN IS STILL THEIR,THAT MEANS YOU WILL BE THE ONE TO REMOVE IT AFTER
RECEIVING THE KEYS/DOCUMENTS WITH YOU OKAY.

So get back to me on how you could take care of our House or perhaps experience you have in renting Home. Hope you are okay with the price of
$700 per month/$500 for the security deposit fee? With Facilities, Air Condition, washer,dryer, Water, Electricity, Fireplace, Internet Access and so on..

PETS, CATS, AND DOGS, ARE WELCOME!!!

I look forward to hearing from you ASAP, so i can forward you an Application Form to fill out and discuss on how to get the house for rent. Also are you ready to rent it now or when?

Await your reply.
Thanks.

(End of Article, Advertisement and Copy of E-mail Communication)

Who should I notify about fraud or scam attempts?

U.S. Federal

• Internet Fraud Complaint Center
• FTC Video: How to report scams to the FTC
• FTC online complaint form
• FTC toll free hotline: 877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357)
• Consumer Sentinel/Military (for reports from services members or their families)
• SIIA Software and Content Piracy reporting

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In-House Financing, Consumer Lending and Customer Financing

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