In Singapore, rental scams are rampant. If you are a leasee, you must always be alert for signs of any room or house rental illegal scheme. Searching for an apartment should be fun and exciting, but getting cheated in broad daylight can easily turn your world upside down. Most scam artists will use your vulnerability as over-the-moon prospective homeowners to manipulate you off of your common sense.
Every property for lease has a listing. The important thing to remember is this: even if a listing looks completely legitimate, there is still a small risk of fraud. Scammers will always find a way to lure you into giving a payment before checking the property.
Rental Fraud Defined
Rental fraud or scam occurs when someone claiming to be a property manager or landlord, in certain cases the actual landlord, tries to rent a property that doesn’t exist, isn’t their rental or is substantially different than advertised.
Here are some steps to avoid losing money from a rental scam:
- Verify the Landlord: Always verify the identity and ownership of the property’s landlord. Scam artists have ways to gain access to an apartment that isn’t theirs to rent. You can generally verify ownership of the property by checking the city records or talking to the building’s manager if you are renting a condo or subleasing.
- Visit the Property in Person: Visiting a property is the best way to detect fraud because you will be to make sure the apartment matches the listing details and pictures. If you don’t live nearby, find someone you trust to visit the property.
- Rent from Reliable Property Management Companies: If you are particularly worried about fraud or moving into an apartment sign-unseen, renting from a well-known property management company may be the best choice.
- Ask to Speak to Current Tenants: Speaking to the current tenants will help you confirm information provided by the landlord. Plus, they can provide additional information about the rental.
- Do Not Pay with Cash or a Wire Transfer: Use a credit card or a check when paying for your rent. Avoid landlords who ask you to pay in cash or via wire transfer since these payment methods are hard to trace.
- Be Careful with Confidential Information: Rental applications generally require providing confidential information, such as a social security number or bank account number. To avoid any fraudulent activity that may result to identity theft, verify the legitimacy of a property first before providing any confidential information.
- Confirm Prices and Features Before Signing a Lease: Verify that everything in the advertisement or promised verbally is included in the lease before signing or paying a deposit.
Wait! There is more!
Here are some additional expert tips for you:
- Avoid extremely cheap listings – saving a few bucks sound good but if it is the start of a fraudulent activity, then forget about it. Always remember not to entertain those cheap listings you see online unless you think those are not fraudulent based on the information given by the lessor.
- Do your research – this won’t make you feel bad at all. Rather, it will give you peace of mind if you are well aware about the unit or property that you want to lease.
- Do not make an upfront payment – do not shell out cold cash. That is a rule. Even if you are very eager to get the property by giving a deposit first to secure the place, it is always not a wise decision.
- Always ask questions – there is a saying “When in doubt, always ask.” If you have questions about the property or want to clarify some points about the purchase or agreement, it is best that you ask the real estate agent or the landlord directly. This helps in preventing any third person from delivering “unverified” information from the landlord to you or vice-versa.
- Give your sensitive information only when needed – if someone asks for your information upfront, make it a red flag. Don’t reveal any of your personal information up-front, and instead let the landlord or real estate agent give you all the information about the listing, then do your research. If you feel that the posting is legitimate, then pass along your information.
- Trust your instinct – this is one of the biggest thing you can do to protect your identity when house hunting — just trust yourself. If you feel that a posting may not be legitimate or you have a funny feeling about a property, then don’t respond to the posting. Instead you if you can flag or report it, then do so.
It is normal to get excited when renting a property but of course, you do not want to turn your happiness into a nightmare. Hope that the advices and tips here can prevent you from falling into the baits of scammers out there.
