Dec 11, 2008 -- Crooks posing as bogus landlords and renting foreclosures
RIP-OFF ALERT: If you're among the roughly 1 in 3 Americans who is a renter, you need to be aware of a new scam in the housing market.
The Washington Post reports that criminals are going to foreclosed properties and changing the locks at the houses. They post ads about a house for rent online or in newspaper classifieds, and then play landlord when you go to look at the property. Then they'll collect a deposit -- and sometimes the first month of rent -- before giving you the keys and telling you to move in.
You may live there for days or even months before the bank wises up and evicts you as a trespasser or a squatter. It's perfectly within the bank's right to do so -- even though the whole scenario only took place because of their incompetence in managing REO (real-estate owned) property.
What telltale signs can you look for to avoid getting ripped off? You definitely want to know where the supposed landlord or real estate agent showing you the house has his or her office. In some cases, you may even want to jot down their license plate number. Just be sure to have some verifiable information about who they are and where they do business.
In non-judicial foreclosure states, there is no paperwork documenting the real owner of the property. That creates a legal loophole big enough for Mack truck, as Clark says, and it can easily be exploited by crooks engaged in this scam.
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