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This is why I do not do business using the telephone or internet. U.S. companies using foreign labor allows too much vital information to get in the wrong hands.

I met the guys that ran it once. I don't know anything about the product but I do know that they are real residents of the city and not a fly by night.

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Thanks Caj. What I didn't express very well was the thought that the JCPD wouldn't do anything and encourage me to pursue a civil case instead.

I was surprised to learn just how seriously they took this claim today. They're doing a great job with this, listened, were very concerned with the broader implications of the theft scheme, and are taking immediate action.

Thanks East District - it is much appreciated.

Will keep you updated.

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It doesn't "rise" from a civil case to a criminal case. Criminal charges are filed by the police, you as the victim choose to press charges, then the prosecutor elects to file (or not file if they think they will lose) a criminal case.

Filing a civil case is entirely separate and your choice to file the case. Civil cases were filed by the families of the victims of Charles Manson for wrongful deaths, and judgments were won against him, for example. I doubt the victims' families collected anything though.

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They're legit. Friend's family stayed with them when they came to town, said it was a good deal and they were very happy.

Make sure you let your Councilwoman & the Mayor's Action Bureau know all about this.

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If you like, PM me and I will share all the information I found on the New Jersey Division of Revenue website records. You could obtain it yourself, but navigating that website can be a little confusing to the lay person (not as confusing to me as it is related to my line of work).

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for your replies and ideas. The JCList community is the best!

Caj - your business search was very helpful - great idea.

My husband is meeting with a detective from the East today. From my correspondence with Roomorama, it appears that everything has been cancelled and we have emails to support this. They claim not to release the fees to the host until the renter provides a special code to Roomorama that authorizes payment.

Not sure what to believe from them.

When we attempted to call back Roomorama from a voice mail they left us, the call was connected to a SKYPE account.
We paid for the room with AMEX, so we have a claim into them as well.

Not sure yet if this rises from a civil case to a criminal case. I guess we'll know today. Certainly the person who lives at 225 Grand whose apartment is being used in false advertising should be upset. We've forwarded this info to 225 Grand building management so they're definitely aware this is going on now.

I feel pretty foolish as we're up on most scams. This was a good one.

Does anyone use

http://nyc-jc.com

or know about them?

I just called both numbers on the website, just a recording saying "the mailbox is full and cannot accept new messages".

Still, what about the "office" address they list? Are the people living at that address a part of this or are they unknowingly being used?

It looks like a scammy website (ubliss)

But, how does roomorama's own internal fraud alert system work? Did they release the funds to the landlord or do they have other approaches to mitigate their own reputation all risk? I have been using similar services before and I'm always concerned how funds are being paid from me to the landlord.

Bait them back as a new client with a promise of a cash only transaction for more then one apartment - family reunion bait.
If you arrange a meeting / view of the apartment, have someone take photos of the person involved and expose them here and for the authorities .... maybe the media might want to jump onbound for a newsworthy story!

it's a scam they're in india , (001)201-977-1600 i had to deal with places like this , not so much india but nigeria. But india has plenty of scams going on. If they are in india getting JCPD or the mayors office involved will do nothing . I had to deal with scams and fronts for years,

https://www.facebook.com/IndiaCorporateHousing/timeline

Sounds like white-collar crime to me. This should be reported to the City Dept of Housing and the JCPD asap.

While there may very well be a scam going on here, this business (predatory or otherwise) does list a legitimate street address as their "office" in Jersey City, phone numbers and also has a Facebook page along with its regular website. If you were really upset at the company, you could post a few choice words on their Facebook page and maybe get their attention in order to get a refund. Also, I looked them up with the New Jersey Division of Revenue, and there is a company called UBliss Info Inc registered in New Jersey, showing the same Jersey City address as their primary office AND an agent for service of process. The names of the principal owner of this company is also listed. Unless the website is entirely fake and has nothing to do with the New Jersey registered company, seems like filing a small claims lawsuit would be fairly easy to do.

A larger issue here is that this type of transient use is not what these properties are zoned for. Even if the person had the inventory, the city could crack down on it.

I've suggested to the city that they allow such transient rentals for superbowl weekend. Hotels are booked and even mediocre accommodations in the area are charging $500.00 a night. For that weekend, allow people to rent out their rooms as long as they pay the hotel tax.

The IRS or the Police might be interested as well. Does the JCPD have a Internet-focused unit that would understand these matters?

I saw his listings myself and considered putting family up in them, but thought they seemed shady.

Please report him to the Mayor's action bureau and your council person.

Just a bit more information after doing a little more research:

The host is from a company named UBlissSuites.com. He has a lot of listings on the net on different platforms including airbnb, etc.

He is advertising apartments for short term rent in downtown Jersey City including:

-70 Greene Street
-225 Grand (funny - not listed on the UBlissSuites website, but this was the location we were promised at Roomorama)
-50 Columbus
-Monaco Towers

We were originally promised 70 Greene, then we were moved to the non-existent apartment at 225 Grand which we paid for and got a confirmation through Roomorama.com.

We just discovered he was using photos of 50 Columbus to advertise the 225 Grand Street unit which we reserved. He has these same photos at another website that advertises the 50 Columbus apartment (UBlissSuites.com).

It looks like he's advertising really good rates at 70 Greene and 225 Grand; making up BS stories about the units availability and then bait and switching to 50 Columbus, if even that's available (not even sure because we wouldn't go the 50 Columbus unit after the scam at 225 Grand.)

Just a quick heads-up to anyone that is exploring the short-term apartment rental idea in Jersey City instead of securing a hotel for guests.

I was just completely scammed by a "host" affiliated with Roomorama.com. I "rented" a room for ten days for guests and selected a property at 225 Grand Street.
It was confirmed, paid for, and we received an address and room rental number. We saw photos of the room and property - everything appeared to be totally legit.

We checked on the room prior to my guests arriving. The host concocted a story that the 225 Grand Street apartment was suddenly not available because of a "medical emergency." He wanted us to switch to an unseen apartment at 50 Columbus instead - which our guests didn't want. Total bait and switch.

So my husband drove over to 225 Grand, spoke with building management (who were super nice) and was informed they never heard of the company, there was no "medical emergency" at the apartment, and the apartment we were confirmed for couldn't be rented on a short-term basis anyway as a permanent owner/tenant resided there.

Please be aware of this predator company operating in JC.