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Old 05-30-2012, 03:13 PM
 
Location: Tricity, PL
61,404 posts, read 86,357,901 times
Reputation: 131185

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Especially ads from Trulia, Craigslist and Hot Pads, and any deals that ask you to send deposit to the owner in another city.
Scammers had posted fraudulent listings on several sites, including Trulia.com and HotPads.com. The names of the fictitious "property owners" may change, but the methods are always the same: attractive-looking properties are offered at low or unbelievable prices; consumers wire money for security deposits or the first month’s rent and then quickly discover they’ve been defrauded.
The MLS Rental Scam Going on Now in the Heights » Swamplot: Houston's Real Estate Landscape

http://rentalscams.org/
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Old 05-30-2012, 04:16 PM
 
Location: Houston area
1,408 posts, read 4,043,364 times
Reputation: 639
You can never be too careful. I have a couple clients who live out of state, sending the deposit out of state is typical for them. We also ask for certified funds, not wires though.

To be safe, it's always wise to check HCAD or the local county assessor to match up the owner.
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Old 05-30-2012, 04:20 PM
JH6
 
1,435 posts, read 3,207,140 times
Reputation: 1162
Thanks for that post. Honestly, I look at craigslist, and most ads for rental properties are just keyword spam posts for relocation services.

The only DECENT listing service I have found has been HAR.
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Old 05-30-2012, 04:27 PM
 
363 posts, read 1,143,410 times
Reputation: 293
Quote:
Originally Posted by City Love View Post

To be safe, it's always wise to check HCAD or the local county assessor to match up the owner.
This happened to a friend that was selling their house. The scammers created an email address using the owners name and were using the owners name in the false negotiations. So the bad guys are figuring out how to get around that too. The scammed person showed up on the door step asking to see the house so she could decide if she wanted to rent it. She was told by the scammers that she could not see the house in person since the were traveling on vacation and to look at the online pictures. My friends were clueless and googled their address on line. Sure enough it popped up for rent on several sites. The FBI got involved and added info to ongoing investigation. Crazy!


It something seems fishy, it probably is!!
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