Madison Craiglsist Scam? Please tell me wht you think. (for sale, apartment)

[Saltinbanqui]

Hi everyone,

First off my apologies, this post is quite long but please bare with me:

Since I will be moving to Madison next week and I am in rush to find a place, I have been looking aggressively in many sites, including Craigslsit. Most of the posts seem serious but I have come across with two postings that have me scratching my head.

Both advertise a rentals for a 3br/2br but don't disclose their locations. The price seems quite attractive and in the pictures of the properties look really good. Kind of "too good to be real" deal. I have contacted both posts and their answers while different have a lot of similarities:

1) Both are asking me to go to a free credit report site and bring a copy of my credit score or my rental history to the moment of the showing.

2) Both answered my email saying that they almost closed a deal with somebody else who contacted them before me, but that the deal fell and I am the second person to email them about the properties.

3) Coincidentally both people are able to show the the properties after 10:00 am.

4) Both properties have flexible lease terms.

5) They are long replies.

Here you have both ads and replies:

Ad1:

http://madison.craigslist.org/apa/2236395261.html (broken link)
(it was flagged this morning for removal)

Reply:

Hi ________. I thought I had this property rented to a younger couple the other day but they haven't been returning my calls. Since I posted the ad you are the first person to contact me about the property.

The property is move-in ready and I will rent it to the first person who signs a lease. I offer 3 month, 6 month and 12 month leases. The first months rent, the cleaning fee, and any pet fees are due at that time. If you're not yet out of your current lease that is acceptable. The property will remain vacant until you're ready to move in.

So you know, I do not conduct a background check or charge an application fee. However to qualify as a tenant you must have a credit score above 500. You can obtain your score for free (http://www.creditreport.com). Print the first few pages and bring them to the viewing.

If you do not bring a copy of your credit report from the above site to the viewing I will not show you the property. I apologize but I'm looking for serious tenants only and not window shoppers. To schedule a viewing just respond to this email. I'm available any time after 10am this week.



Ad2:
~~~Location,Location, Location~~~ (http://madison.craigslist.org/apa/2168309892.html - broken link)
(still active)

Reply:

Hello, I apologize for not responding to you earlier, I have been extremely busy the last few days!
The good news is that the rental is still available! We had handshake agreement from the first person we showed it to, but now it seems that they changed their mind, so we need to lease it as soon as possible. You were the second one toemail me about it.
We know you will want to do a walkthrough of the property, but my husband doesn't want me to advertise the address as a measure of safety. Last time we did that without verifying people, the empty property was broken into and vandalized. We don't want that to happen again! You will be responsible for cable, internet, and phone, if you decide to have these services. Just to confirm, we DO allow pets at this property.

The rental term is 12-month lease, but can be switched into a 6-month lease if preferred. We just ask that you give us fair notice if you are moving out.
If you would like to set up an appointment, go to the link below and request the free copy of your rental report. We use this site for all the properties we manage. Just fill out the form and indicate that you want the free report. The actual scores aren't important to us, it's more of a formality to have it on file, to make sure there are no previous property related issues.

Get your report here: http://rental-secure.org/property02508/ (broken link)
Remember, we only need to see the page about the rental history. That will be all you will need to bring with you to the showing.
As far as getting together to see the property goes, I am available to show it any time from 10:00 am on, for the next few days. Let me know once you have itprinted out, and we will set up a time to do your walk-through.


Would you please give me your opinion? Does this look like a scam to you? Am I being paranoid or my common sense is working?

Thanks.

[Megan1967]

The first ad has been flagged so I think it is safe to assume there was something up with it.

The second one *is* to good to be true and the pictures aren't even of the same apartment. Two pictures show rooms with fire places and the two kitchens don't even match each other.

You will not get a 3 bedroom that nice for $925 in Madison.

Could be the same person, but it could all be coincidence, too.

The credit report thing is actually a good idea from the landlord's point of view because otherwise they'd have to pay for the credit report. Could be there is a book on how to manage rental properties that they both read.

I would never give someone all the info on my credit report, however, as the one you get has a lot more details than the one the landlord would purchase.

[farhadB]

Yes, I would not do credit report or any of that on line, only in person at a ligit leasing office. Craig list is a big scam around here and most everywhere. Do not fall for the pictures only because it could be in a crappy neigborhood. Why don't you use rent.com website?? They are much more ligit than craig list. Good luck

[Saltinbanqui]

Thanks everyone!

[khuntrevor]

Free Credit Score & Credit Report Card. No Credit Card Needed is 100% legit, and free, with free Transunion score. 500? way too low for me.

[punky66]

It does sound VERY odd, they both are quite similar! It's really hard to tell in situations like this tho! I understand there closed down but for future reference, as far as the credit report thing goes a lot of landlords look you up whether you know it or not (whether it be landlords or future employers-they will even look you up on things like facebook now days), there are some good posts on craigslist and yes there are a lot of scams- you just have to be careful! I'm not sure about the 1st post, but the 2nd post sounds like my landlord! She is very cautious about vandalism and things that she may have to pay for, she talks and explains things way too much, and she's very eager to get somebody in her apt paying rent so she doesn't have to pay for the place anymore!

Good luck! I hope you like the place you found!

[ranger17]

we ran into potential scams looking for housing down in SC as well, I personally would not spend any time on Craig's list. I'd suggest checking into property management companies, and another option ( depending on the area ) can be homes for sale that after sitting will go into rental ( if you were thinking of renting a home instead of apt ).

just my .02

[r_k]

The main purpose of such scam ads is to direct you to bogus sites which claim to give you a free credit report. Presumably they would then steal your card numbers or worse. The site reported by the OP (rental-secure[dot]org) e.g. is registered in the Bahamas, and created on Feb. 16, 2011, which should give you a hint about how legit it could be, NOT!

[bokbokG]

I got something very very similar to the 2nd post for a house in Daly City, California. Thanks for posting, now I won't fall for their traps.