What are the scams with renting an apartment. Common schemes of fraud when renting an apartment

But the commissioning of the object is delayed and you are faced with the question of finding rental housing. In this article, we will try to uncover the signs of rental fraud that will help you avoid apartment fraudsters.

Renting a home is not an easy issue and requires a serious approach. Many tenants mistakenly believe that the main difficulty in renting a home is finding the best suitable option. Unfortunately, this is not entirely true, finding and renting a home involves many pitfalls. The most important of them is the risk of being cheated in the process of renting a house. Rental scams are quite common.

Modern practice shows that there is a high probability of being deceived by unscrupulous landlords or specialized agencies. There are often cases when a person signed a lease agreement, made an advance payment, and after a few days simply ended up on the street. How to avoid fraud when renting a home, not to become a victim of scammers and save your money, let's try to figure it out.

It is worth noting that the actions of landlords or realtors who are not clean on the hands of landlords or realtors, according to their characteristics, can be qualified as a criminal offense, or in other words, as fraud.

LEGAL REFERENCE

Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation defines fraud as theft of someone else's property or the illegal acquisition of rights to someone else's property. The sanction of this article includes both significant monetary fines and imprisonment.

What to look for if you were deceived when renting an apartment?

First of all, you need to find out who is the real owner of the rental housing offered to you. To do this, you must familiarize yourself with the documents of title to the apartment. Be sure to look at the house book and find out who is registered in the given housing area.

IMPORTANT

When concluding a lease agreement, make sure that it was signed by the real owners. If, each of the owners must sign an agreement. Otherwise, one of them may later declare that he did not give his consent to rent the apartment, therefore he did not receive any money and intends to live in the said apartment himself.

An apartment rental agreement as an opportunity to prevent deception

A properly drawn up contract will help you avoid many problems and unpleasant surprises in the future. Today, almost all real estate is leased out on the basis of relevant agreements. You must understand that the more detailed and thoroughly all the nuances and conditions are spelled out in the contract, the more chances you have to prevent fraud when renting a home.

Highlights included in the lease:

• Parameters of real estate (square of living space, legal address, etc.);
• General terms for concluding an agreement, the cost of rent and the procedure for making settlements;
• The procedure for making additional payments (payment of utilities, telephone communications, parking, etc.);
• Conditions for early termination of the contract on the initiative of one of the parties.

It will be correct if you reflect all the verbal agreements with the owner of the apartment in the contract, so you will minimize the risks of being deceived when renting an apartment.

Unfortunately, fraud when renting a home can be both on the part of real estate owners and on the part of agencies providing services in this area or individual employees of these agencies. You should also draw your attention to this.

Unfair agencies or realtor fraud

If you decide to use the services of realtors to find and rent suitable housing, carefully study the service agreement. For example, if the contract specifies that the realtor or agency provides you only information services and is not responsible for checking the documents and the decency of the lessor, you will not be able to prove your case and bring the party to the contract accountable.

Often, in order to evade responsibility, fraudsters resort to just such schemes. Therefore, carefully study the contract for the provision of services, especially the footnotes and additions to the text of the contract, written in small print.

In situations where the agreement has been signed long ago, the funds have been transferred, and you have become a victim of deception by realtors, immediately contact the law enforcement agencies. It is possible that you are not the first person to be deceived in this way, and the police already have similar appeals.

A fairly common method of fraud is a situation when the owner of the apartment takes an additional fee from the tenants, promising to buy furniture, install household appliances, make repairs, etc. Having received the money, the owner simply disappears and does not fulfill his obligations.

Never agree to additional costs and do not transfer money to the owner of the apartment outside the lease. All your expenses must be reflected in the contract, and all your payments are accompanied by the corresponding receipts.

Sometimes it happens that the contract is concluded for a long term and an advance payment has been made for a year in advance. However, after a few months, the owner wishes to terminate the contract unilaterally. In such a situation, the owner must return the money received and pay a penalty to the tenant. It should be noted that most often such disputes are resolved in court, which requires new costs and time costs.

Be sure to make sure that the lease agreement includes such concepts as conditions for early termination of the contract and forfeit for improper performance of obligations assumed. Remember, in order to protect yourself from fraud when renting an apartment, all verbal agreements with the owner of the apartment must be reflected in the contract.

Average statistics

We bring to your attention the average survey in the area of ​​apartment rental fraud:

• 60% of so-called "cheap" rental apartments are involved in fraudulent schemes;
• The overwhelming majority of the facts of fraudulent renting of housing are associated with 1 and 2-room economy class apartments. First of all, this is due to the increased demand in this segment of the real estate market;
• The most common cheating scheme is renting an apartment to several clients at once;
• More than 70% of rental fraud cases occur in large cities, where expensive real estate generates a huge demand for rental housing;
• Most often, fraudsters actively use legal ignorance and naivety of the population in their illegal activities.

conclusions

When looking for and renting real estate, be extremely careful and careful. Always carefully study the contract and pay attention to all the little things, this is the only way you can insure yourself against fraud when renting an apartment and save your money.

Serious attitude to the search for rental housing for the period until your apartment in a new building is rented out will save you from unpleasant surprises and negative consequences.

Don't chase after cheapness or colorful tempting ads. Before contacting specialized agencies or private realtors, try to find information regarding this agency.

Use the services of time-tested agencies with good references. This way you will save not only your money, but also precious time and your nerve cells.

Experts have calculated: 57% of citizens who independently search the rental housing market, sooner or later come across swindlers or "cheating". Moreover, both tenants and landlords are cheating. Over time, some methods of deception cease to work, but scammers tirelessly invent new ones. So, the stories about the re-rent of already rented apartments and the sale of old ads from the Internet are outdated. The first places today are electronic theft with the use of well-known brands of real estate agencies by swindlers, illegal sublease with falsified documents and sale of a rented apartment.

Ways to take money

But the first place is still held by the banal "kidok" - the ability to "disappear in time". “Among the types of fraud on the part of tenants, the most popular is non-payment, when a tenant leaves without warning before the deadline, without paying the landlord, not paying for the meters, for telephone calls, the Internet,” says Oksana Polyakova, deputy director of the apartment rental department of a large real estate agency... “It happens that employers take with them something from the property of the owner.”

Both professional fraudsters and amateurs know how to “get out in time”. But on more serious scams related to forgery of documents, only the pros are resolved. In such cases, a fake stamp with registration at the desired address is put in the passport, copies (and sometimes originals) of property documents are forged. Fortunately, the technical level of such fakes is usually not very high, so tenants need to ignore any copies and only require the original passport and title documents for the apartment. And carefully consider these documents.

Intentional early eviction of the tenant is popular among the "tricks" of landlords. This can be done by presenting fictitious claims - to terminate the contract without refunding the security deposit. Or by changing the lease term. First, the tenant is told that they are renting out the property for a long term (long-term rates are 20 percent higher). But “suddenly” after three months the owner has insurmountable circumstances in which it is necessary to vacate the apartment ... It even happens that the apartment is sold without termination of the lease: the tenants went on vacation and returned to the door with new locks and owners. The owner of the apartment does not intend to return the money.

Fraud with the use of bank card data and the names of reputable real estate agencies is gaining popularity. Depending on the scope of the activity, false realtors may even open dummy offices and present fake documents. Further, the scammers, posing as agency employees, offer a profitable deal, but ask the tenant to transfer the prepayment to the account or card indicated by him in order to “rewrite the number” for “immediate transfer of the deposit” to the lessor's account. Further - depending on the computer literacy of the "realtors": either personal data, the number, and the cvv-code are copied using technical devices, or simply rewritten.

Features of the national lease

The rental market has changed - a share of 9-11% was firmly occupied by proposals worth up to 20 thousand rubles. per month. At this price in the Moscow region, rooms are most often rented. In addition, people are less likely to turn to professionals. The reason for both was the drop in the incomes of the population.

“If in pre-crisis times the owners, as a rule, rented out rooms in empty apartments, today some are forced to allocate living space where they live,” explains Oksana Polyakova. - It is difficult to adapt to the new conditions not only financially, but also psychologically: many resort to such measures for the first time and it is more comfortable for them to look for tenants “by acquaintance” - most of the landlords at first try to find their neighbors in this way. However, then they still turn to specialists. For various reasons, for example, practice shows that most often problems with discipline and timely payment of rental rates arise when relatives, friends or acquaintances become employers. "

According to real estate experts, less than half (37%) of surveyed tenants came to agencies in 2016. 63% were looking for options and made deals without the help of lawyers and realtors. 50% of such independent tenants searched for apartments on sites on the Internet, 25% posted requests on specialized resources, 15% counted on the help of friends, 10% simply bought information from agencies. A third of landlords also used their own methods of finding tenants. Of these, 25% of owners posted ads on the Internet, 3% pasted them on poles and entrance doors, 35% relied on random intermediaries, and 37% on friends and word of mouth.

We list the most popular ways to cheat related to the rental of apartments.

How do swindlers usually work when renting an apartment?

How often do deceivers act when renting a home?

Analysis of ads often used by scammers

How not to fall into the trap when renting a home?

To avoid cheating and not to fall into the clutches of crooks, follow these simple rules:

1. always sign a contract, in which you write in detail all the conditions of the lease.
2. Don't pay rent in advance in a few months.
3. Ignore advertisements where prices are suspiciously low.
4. Specify the number of owners living space, find out who else is registered in the apartment and can live in it by law.

How not to run into criminals when renting out?

The following rules will help to recognize fraud and protect the apartment from the encroachment of fraudsters:

1. never pass copies of title documents to tenants.
2. Check regularly on the basis of Rosreestr the right of ownership for the rented apartment.
3. Agree with tenants about visits on certain days.
4. Check the number of residents and the condition of the apartment.

What to do if you have already been deceived?

If you do become a victim of swindlers, take all measures to punish them:

When looking for an apartment for rent and renting out housing, be extremely careful and careful.

Pay attention to any little things when concluding a contract, do not chase cheapness and do not trust colorful advertisements in your ads.

A serious attitude to the issue of renting an apartment in the future will save you from unpleasant surprises and saves you money, as well as nerves and precious time.

Watch a video on the topic of the article:

Apartment rental scams are very common. You need to know the typical fraud schemes so as not to get caught in the scammers' networks.

2. Re-lease of apartments. They rent an apartment for daily rent and pass it off as their own, rent it out for a long time. Come to see a great well-kept apartment at a low price. At the conclusion of the contract, you are presented with copies instead of the originals. The reasons can be voiced different: forgot, then we'll give you a lift. Upon your request to conclude an agreement after viewing the originals, either a refusal or a request to post a deposit follows. If you refuse to do this, you will be rudely expelled from the apartment. What should alert you first of all. There are no miracles in the rental market. If a great room is rented at a suspiciously low price, this should already be alarming. Second: the absence of originals.

3. Construction company. They ask to drive up to the office to conclude a contract. Then it turns out that the owner is a construction company. Turn around right away and leave.

4. Another scam is called " Execution of an agreement through a lawyer ". Read the ad, call. The person who answered you on the phone introduces himself as the owner of the home. But! To begin with, he asks you to meet with his lawyer (to conclude a contract and check documents). You are convinced that through a lawyer to do everything is cheaper than through an agent who takes 100% commission. The lawyer will take much less, 3-5 thousand rubles. This money will be included in the rent of this apartment. Everything seems to be very good. But as soon as you give your money to the "lawyer", the lawyer will disappear and the owner of the apartment. According to the rules of the lease, all contracts are concluded only in the rented housing. One hundred percent fraud.

5. Sublease. This is when you rent an apartment from people who settled before you. This means that you are not renting from the owner of the apartment, but from the tenants. Naturally, they do not have the documents for the apartment. Very often the tenant, due to the high cost of rent, tries to re-rent the apartment to third parties on his own, without informing the owner of the apartment. He will tell you that the owner has nothing against it.

You can give money to an enterprising renter, but when the owner appears, he has every right to kick you out the door. The lease often states that the lessee is not entitled to sublet. In addition, the lease agreement strictly specifies who lives in a given area. What to do? Inform the owner. If he agrees to an additional tenant, rewrite the lease, where you will be registered as the second tenant. In this case, nothing threatens you. Everything else is at your own risk.

Summing up,

1. All rental meetings are held ONLY in rented accommodation ;
2. Payment is made only after:
verification of the identity of the owner;
studying the originals of title documents for the apartment;
signing and scrutinizing the lease agreement;
transfer of premises and getting keys ;

Rent and agency fees are the last to go.
If you need to pay a deposit to keep the property, this is done only in the presence of your agent and against receipt (deposit agreement). If you– newcomer to the rental market and there is no knowledge of the schemes of work of real real estate agencies, then the first time it is better to do this with an agent. Scam when renting an apartment in St. Petersburg is the most widespread phenomenon. We must be prepared for this. From experience, visitors are most often found in the networks of scammers.

The video shows only one of the scams in the rental market.

Finally, I will say:
Forewarned is forearmed! If the article was useful to you, please share it on social networks.

Every citizen faced with the need in a metropolis quickly realizes that the rental market is full of scammers who are always ready to ease the wallet of an unlucky tenant.

Cheaper only for nothing

Fraudulent schemes used to defraud gullible customers have not changed over the years and are not varied.

The top of the list of common schemes is the low rental rate, which is used as a "hook".

“Most of these ads are of the same type, and the rental rates indicated in them are 50-70% lower than the market ones. When a client contacts the specified number, it turns out that this wonderful offer is no longer there, but there is another one “with mother-of-pearl buttons” and at a market price, ”said Natalya Sivko, Managing Director of Miel-Arenda.

However, such ads can be called harmless gimmicks that take only the client's time and nerves. But the schemes where a potential tenant is lured out of money for "air" are already fully related to fraudulent activities.

Money in sms

Fictitious news agencies and SMS scams are also quite common in the market. The principle of operation of these organizations is simple: a citizen who wants to rent an apartment and who has left his phone number on some Internet resource receives an SMS message with a request to send a return SMS to gain access to the database of homeowners.

Of course, the gullible tenant does not receive any information in return, and the sent message costs him a lot.

Bogus addresses

However, fraudsters are not only remote - a company with a quite respectable office can offer a client to buy for several thousand rubles a list of contacts of owners who rent out apartments at a price 10-15% lower than the market.

A potential tenant receives in the office a list of owners with addresses and phone numbers of apartments, an employee of the company can even call one of the phones for persuasiveness to arrange a show. A satisfied client goes to a meeting, and no one is waiting for him in the apartment. The agent also does not answer calls.

Calling up the rest of the apartments, the client understands that there are no apartments for rent that correspond to the declared prices in the purchased list. Claims are not accepted at the office of the company, since the agency has provided a paid "information service" for the agreed fee. “And the fact that the phone numbers turned out to be the wrong offers just at the moment when the client called there is already his problem,” sums up Sivko.

Fake rent

Due to technological progress, renting an apartment with forged documents is a very common type of fraud in the rental market.

The agent can collude with the owner of the apartment in order to rent out housing through dummies using forged documents. After some time, the owner will declare the transaction invalid, exposing the tenant to the street without any compensation.

It should be noted that an apartment can be subleased by fraudsters several times in a row, so the question of which subtenant has the right to live in it will fall on the shoulders of tenants, and the fraudsters who initiated this situation will go into the shadows.

“The owner is obliged to present a passport and original documents for the apartment. Usually fraudsters show the tenant only copies of documents, which, for greater persuasiveness, beautifully laminate, rush and distract when studying the documents, ”Sivko notes.

The rich pay too

Fraud with renting apartments is not uncommon in the segment of luxury housing. Typically, scammers lure wealthy tenants into paying several months in advance without providing documents confirming the receipt of funds.

Also, the owners of elite housing sometimes offer tenants to make repairs in the apartment by paying rent, and then they forget about these agreements and demand to pay the last months of rent, said the general director of the real estate agency "Usadba" Nadezhda Khazova.

Instruction for tenant

Experts strongly advise not to take anyone's word for it during an apartment rental deal.

The client should be guided by the pricing situation so as not to buy into an overly advantageous offer, which is usually just bait.

To remain calm while viewing the apartment and concluding a deal, not to react to the state of nervousness artificially created by many owners and unscrupulous agents, thanks to which the client will quickly examine everything and give the money.

Pay special attention to drawing up a lease agreement - it reflects all the terms of the lease, including the term, the fixed rental rate, the owner's visit to the apartment, the responsibility of the parties and other important points, says Galina Kiseleva, director of the apartment rental department at Inkom-Nedvizhimost.

Payment for the services of a realtor occurs after the conclusion of the transaction, and not before the start of work.

The easiest way to transfer to the owner is by the act of acceptance and transfer of housing, which includes an inventory of the property.