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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
 
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I just flung myself off the cliff hoping the wave is in at the bottom: I rented to a nice couple with good income but abysmal credit due to a past medical crisis. Sometimes you gotta trust your instincts rather than numbers, it seemed at least as likely the people who barely made enough to afford the place would end up with problems.
Posted on: 2013/4/26 17:40
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Just can't stay away
 
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Yeah, this year I'm having a harder time than usual too. Luckily I'm all filled up now with good tenants, but it was a harder journey than normal.
Posted on: 2013/4/26 17:31
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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I had a hysterical call yesterday about a craigslist listing. After admitting she wasn't actually looking at my ad but was looking at something she "emailed to herself", she says "where's the rent, it just says heights, is this a scam, are you a scammer?", when I laugh she hangs up not even listening.
I think I'm with the "low price gets low-life" crowd. I'm having a hell of a time getting someone who actually makes a living.
Posted on: 2013/4/26 15:10
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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Funny, I saw a guy taking pictures in my neighborhood (Hamilton Park). He took a picture of my building and several others so I asked him what he was doing.
"I'm a realtor. Just taking pictures of properties for sale." I know for a fact no one is selling in my building. I pointed that out to him and he immediately left.
Posted on: 2013/4/26 2:09
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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I've had a lot of those generic emails about the moldings and archways in the rooms and etc, my family was raised in this home but now I am overseas in the missionaries, etc.
I've seen condos in Hamilton Park listed, 3-4bedrooms in the Heights for under 1000, all sorts of crazy stuff. As soon as I get the "Hello Sir/Madam" email I just know. Instead I just write them back in old English and politely write them back another B.S. email about how I'd love to take their place and take great care of it etc, EXCEPT I had already checked the place out to find out the address either doesn't exist or the tax records do not indicate that William Williamson or Mortimer Johnson is not the owner. You catch my drift.
Posted on: 2013/4/26 2:00
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Not too shy to talk
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Our house pictures (exterior and interior) were used for a rental listing on Craiglist a little while ago. Our 4 bed/3 bath single family home was listed for $950.
It ended up being some shady R.E. salesperson drumming up business. He got tons of prospects and he would say "oh that just rented but I have many more... but for $4000". I emailed his anonymous address, and he took it down but soon after I saw another 5K house listed for nothing.
Posted on: 2013/4/25 17:03
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Not necessarily. My apartment is well under market value, and it's because the landlord wants to retain tenants. There aren't really any amenities like a washer/dryer, yard or roof deck, etc. but it is so cheap for the space that we will stick it out there for as long as it makes sense for us. They do screen people very thoroughly and are willing to leave a unit vacant until they find the right fit, and are aggressive about evicting bad tenants. They do it because the owner is their elderly mother and she lives in the building, and I think they just want to cover the operating expenses so she can keep living there.
Posted on: 2013/4/24 21:45
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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Don't go on the net, go through a real estate agency in person. Or through the local newspaper.
Posted on: 2013/4/24 16:33
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Get on your bikes and ride !
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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Utilities included shouldn't warrant a red flag.
Posted on: 2013/4/24 16:28
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Get on your bikes and ride !
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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Underpricing will only lure someone less than desireable.
Posted on: 2013/4/24 16:26
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Get on your bikes and ride !
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Just can't stay away
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my property's identity was stolen. they contacted me via other methods via my company - which also had the same listing in place. so it was by luck that i found out!
they said something like "but you said on craigslist that it was for $850?" and i said "what craigslist?"
Posted on: 2013/4/24 16:02
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Just can't stay away
Joined:
2005/9/27 20:08 Last Login : 2022/9/6 11:43 From Historic Downtown
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Quote:
Wow, your identity was stolen, and yet people contacted you about the cheap rent? How does the scammer make money?
Posted on: 2013/4/24 15:49
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Just can't stay away
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just last week the scammers actually "stole the identity" of a few of my properties, pictures, and description and everything and posted on craigslist for a cheaper (REALLY cheap) price for exactly this reason. I had to get all my friends to flag it and bring it down, but not before a few folks contacted me about the ad saying "is it still available for $850?"
shady!
Posted on: 2013/4/24 15:34
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
Joined:
2010/6/17 17:22 Last Login : 2014/11/19 0:07 From Pizza City
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Wow. That sucks. So how are you supposed to know they're legit up front, before all the subtle coaxing gets too far along?
Posted on: 2013/4/17 3:23
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Home away from home
Joined:
2005/3/21 20:01 Last Login : 2020/9/5 14:18 From Exchange Place
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1397
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Here's another scam.
126 Dudley St, Jersey City, NJ For Rent: $950/mo Condo at 126 Dudley St, Jersey City, NJ. 2 bed, 2 bath. 1200 sq ft of living space. $950/month. Dogs and cats both allowed. Available monthly. Deeded parking, fitness center http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/126 ... NJ-07302/2141494089_zpid/
Posted on: 2013/4/15 17:40
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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Hahahaha... A one bedroom for $900 a month on Warren Street, near the waterfront, yeah right... you couldn't even get a studio apartment for that over there... how dumb do they think people are? I guess they're just hoping that out-of-towners moving here will be ignorant enough to fall for this but come on! If you believe you can get a nice place like that by the waterfront, in a building with a pool, no less (according to the fake listing), I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. Or perhaps you'd like to tell me about the tooth fairy.
Posted on: 2013/4/15 16:13
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
Joined:
2005/3/21 20:01 Last Login : 2020/9/5 14:18 From Exchange Place
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Registered Users
Posts:
1397
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Beware of rental scam on the internet. $900 barely covers the real estate tax, condo maintenance fee, and insurance.
-------------------------------- 1 Bedroom - $900, 15 warren st jersey city nj 07304 - Walk Score Apartments 1 Bedroom - $900 - Downtown Condo at 15 Warren St, Jersey City, NJ. 1 bed, 1 bath. 776 sq ft of living space. $900/month. Dogs and cats both allowed. Rental comes furnished. About This Location 15 Warren StreetJersey CityNJ07304 15 Warren St Jersey City NJ 07304 has a Walk Score of 74 out of 100. This address is Very Walkable ? most errands can be accomplished on foot. This location is in the Downtown neighborhood of Jersey City, with a neighborhood Walk Score of 93. Walk nearby to coffee from Grand Banks Cafe and groceries from Gregory Park Smoke Shop. The nearest restaurants are Harbor Casino, Amelia's Bistro, and Taqueria Viva Mexico. Close by parks and schools include Paulus Hook Park and Waterfront Montessori. http://www.walkscore.com/apartment/1-bedroom-900-jersey-city
Posted on: 2013/4/15 16:02
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Quite a regular
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This is a scam. You're friend should report it to Remax, Craigslist, and the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Remax Apartment Scam
Posted on: 2007/12/3 13:25
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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There was a little story in the New Yorker some months back about a similar scam - renter pretends to be landlord, takes a bunch of security deposits/rent checks and flees. I think this one got something like 19 people to sign leases, all of whom showed up with their stuff on the 1st, including some from hundreds of miles away. The scammer had already left the country.
Posted on: 2007/12/3 3:40
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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Hey CC,
Thanks for pointing that out. It isn't something unheard of, but it seems like schemes like this always come in spurts. Thanks for giving the heads up. I hope you contacted all the websites an companies "involved" to make them aware that people are using their sites or company names for scams. This reminds me of similar schemes on craigslist involving sporting event tickets. Where someone who claims to have tickets for an event, and then has a fake website set up that looks like a team ticket brokerage site. Red flags go up, and the majority of people don't fall for it. But some people who aren't familiar with the buying process might.
Posted on: 2007/12/3 1:33
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
Joined:
2006/4/18 0:04 Last Login : 2021/10/2 19:00 From Jersey Cxxx
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Also, another scam that I almost feel victim too, was a person who advertised an apartment for rent. They claimed to be the owner in a condo building in NYC. I went to see the apartment and loved it. I went back 2 days later, I had to go to the super next door because there was a sign that was posted that the buzzer/intercom was broken and I was asking him to let me in the building and explained I was going to meet the owner in the apartment to sign the lease and give him the money. The super informed me that he was not the owner and just a renter who was moving out at the end of the month. After finding the owner and contacting the police, we found out that he took money from 4 other people in the same scam. He was charged with grand larceny and theft by deception but I'm not sure if they ever found him once he moved out.
I found out this type of scam was very common in NYC back in the early 80's. It is now very easy to find the real names of owners in condo/houses and I suggest that before handing over any monies, you make sure that it's to the owner or a legal agent. It would be a bit hard to pull a scam like this in JC but it is possible.
Posted on: 2007/12/2 15:49
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Not too shy to talk
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When I was trying to find an apartment earlier this year, I also saw an ad on Craiglist that caught my attention. I responded to the ad and when I was informed that I had to send $$ prior to looking at the apartment, I knew it was a scam. There have been news coverage about this scam in the newspaper and on TV. At the end, NEVER send money to anyone prior to looking at the apartment.
Posted on: 2007/12/2 15:28
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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Indeed it sounds like common sense but like I said, the process was long and subtle and a relationship was formed. These guys are professionals and summarizing it in an e-mail makes it easier to see the scam. These are intelligent woman and my point is it can happen to anyone. They evidently didn't get scammed because when those 'red flags' happened the ladies said 'no way' and moved on. They still wasted precious rental searching time to get to that point. Maybe this post will save someone else from wasting the same time up to that point.
My red flag would have been utilities included, now that's too good to be true! lol.
Posted on: 2007/12/2 4:25
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Re: Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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That should have raised a red flag right there. You should never have to put out any money just to see an apartment. And if she was actually dealing with Remax, Remax would have had an agent show the apartment. Sounds like common sense, but that's just me.
Posted on: 2007/12/2 4:17
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Local Rental Scam you should know about
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Home away from home
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A friend of mine found a great rental property in downtown JC on craigslist. $1300, 2 bedroom, parking, utilities included. She saw photos, she dropped by outside, the property exists. The woman who owned the apartment lived in Greece for her job for 3 years and needed to rent the place. She underpriced it to get someone good. She didn't feel comfortable just sending the keys to my friend to look at it so she set up with Remax where you could pick up the keys and provide the first and last months rent check as a security to see the place. Yes, sounds like a scam at that point - but it was all very subtle. When it started to feel was when we realized - the keys were to be mailed still and contacting Remax wasn't part of the process AND it was all too good to be true. She called Remax and they told her they don't do that.
Anyhow, I talked to another friend and her pal evidently was baited by this exact same scenario. So obviously the way they approach it is subtle enough for these two intelligent ladies to be strung along for a while. So if you are looking for rentals, keep in mind there is a scam happening out there wasting people's time who are looking for legitimate rentals and they are using Remax's name to make it seem legit.
Posted on: 2007/12/2 3:39
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