Victims of real estate rental scams have been so rampant nowadays. As these residential rentals increase in the economic market, the possibility of becoming a prey is also probable. Avoid becoming one by finding out through this article.

1. Always deal with a legitimate, licensed realtor when looking for rental property.
2. When looking through real estate rental listings in newspapers or web sites such as Craigslist, make a note of the property address, telephone addresses and other contact details provided in the advertisements. Run a Google search on these details to see if the same details come up in other entries. Most scams involve taking details from real rental listings, but fudging the contact details, so that you end up contacting the scammer, instead of the real advertiser.
3. Insist on a personal tour of the rental property, not just a drive-by where the ‘agent’ points out some property, but doesn’t stop so you can do a complete walkthrough.
4. Avoid signing a lease where the rental property is located in an outstation location and you cannot travel to that location to check out the rental yourself, or get someone you know in that place, to check it out for you.
5. Watch out for ‘agents’ or ‘landlords’ who say they are in a hurry to close up the deal, without allowing you sufficient time to complete your due diligence. Frequent excuses you might hear from such people: the keys are not with them, since the owner is going or has already gone abroad, or the owner or landlord is not agreeable to an inspection of the property until an advance payment is made.
6. Ignore ads where the first requirement is to wire some money as a token advance towards the security deposit, rental amount or application fee.
7. Before you sign a lease, inspect. Don’t pay upfront (security deposit and first + last month’s rent) before you visit the property.
8. Delete emails which ask you for your personal information in response to a rental listing query by you.
9. You send out a web or email request to get information on certain rentals which have been advertised and an entirely different party contacts you.
10. Avoid dealing with third parties, i.e. unless it’s the owner or a realtor or landlord who is the authorized person to sign a rental or lease agreement.
11. When the answers to your questions or clarifications are vague or suspicious, chances are that the person you’re dealing with is a scammer.
12. Check out the property details from the local administration offices, where such information is open to the public. It could be that the property you wish to rent is actually non-existent.