Pub. 4 2019 Issue 2

11 ISSUE 2 2019 DANI GORDEN Advertising Sales 801.676.9722 dani@thenewslinkgroup. com WORDS. of that and called the guy and he never answered after that. The resident recently drove by the property only to find out it is not for rent after all. 1. Don’t ever pay for a list of homes for rent. There are companies out there that will charge $250 for a list of homes. These lists are usually accumulated by going online to sites such as Zillow and Trulia, finding homes that are for rent and then putting them on one list. The companies that do this normally don’t have the permis- sion from the management companies to “sell” this data. Another family told me that they found a rental company with a lot of listings. They actually met at an office. They had to pay $250 for a rental listing, with a guarantee that they will get one of the homes. The family starts going through the list and going by the properties, only to find out the list has homes that have residents and the “company” does not manage. They go back to the office they met at, and the office is empty. They met several other families are at the location looking for the company too. 1. Be cautious of ads on Craig’s list. We stopped placing properties for rent on Craig’s List because the number of scammers dramatically increased when we did this. It is very common for scammers to prey on individuals looking for homes for rent on Craig’s List. Over the years we have experienced scammers copying our property ads. The new ad will have an unbelievable rental rate. We had one last year in Riverside. Rent was $1700. The new ad was for $800. I must have received over 100 calls each day for that property, it would seem when they first placed the ad, they left our company phone number on the ad. They changed it to a different phone number in a few days. One lead said they did end up speaking to someone at the proper- ty who took their application, copy of their IDs and socials, along with a check for the application fee. They could stop processing of the check, but now the scammer had their IDs and socials. 1. Don’t apply for a property without seeing the inside of. It is common for scammers to make excuses to not show the inside of the home. Such as “I am out of town,” “the current tenant isn’t available today,” and more. What they are really saying is “I don’t have keys to this property.” Don’t be A Victim Always have your guard up and be overly cautious when applying for a rental property. If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. We recommend going with a reputable management company. At the very least, if you are renting through a private owner, do your research first. If you would like more information on properties available for rent, visit our website at m1rent.com.