BEWARE OR YOU COULD FIND YOURSELF THE VICTIM OF A
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY SCAM OR FRAUD
According to Sergeant Greg Jehle of the Financial Crimes Investigations Unit, Bakersfield Police Investigators are receiving more and more reports of crimes from individuals who have been victims of fraud while attempting to rent residential property. The scam involves individuals with no connection to these vacant properties. These scammers typically advertise a targeted property as being available to rent on Internet sites, such as, Craig’s list. Prospective renters are conned into placing a deposit or paying rent and then the victim moves into a residence they have no right to.
Often times the scammer has previously broken into a vacant home and changed the
locks to give the appearance they own the property, because they have a key and
are able to show the residence prior to renting.
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| Be cautious when renting properties posted on the Internet. |
Prospective renters are reminded to be cautious when renting properties posted on-line. If you are in the market to rent property you should:
Ask to see the prospective landlord’s Identification and record all the information you can from it, however you should consider that the ID may also be fictitious, so take note of the person’s physical description and vehicle description, including the license plate number. If the landlord becomes uncomfortable because of your caution, they may just decide to cancel the transaction.
Look at any photographs you might receive of the property carefully. Do they compare with the rental property you've seen in person?
Visit the local County Assessor’s Office or Hall of Records to confirm property ownership for the property in question. Who really owns it? Is it the person you're dealing with?
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| If you aren’t asked to complete a rental application or permission to check your credit or run a background check, this may be a red flag. |
Ask the potential landlord if they're current on their mortgage payments and then get their answer in writing.
Consider using another method for obtaining a rental, such as, a property management company. Property management companies handle both apartments and private homes.
These same precautions should also be taken when renting through other recourses such as news papers and other websites.
If this rental scam scenario sounds familiar to you or you happen to come across a situation such as this, PLEASE contact law enforcement ASAP so they can investigate.
Check your neighborhood or your potentially new neighborhood’s crime statistics
If you are moving into a new area of the city and would like to see what types of crimes might have been reported in an area, you go on-line and visit www.spotcrime.com or
BPD's Crime Stats webpage. Once on the webpae you can select reported crimes or calls for service.
Remember if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is!
For further questions, please call (661) 326-3053.
