Tuesday, 3rd of November 2009 at 12:34:47 PMThis isn’t a new scam and probably under our current market conditions, isn’t likely to go away soon. As a property owner that leases property, I’ve had applicants verify my status as the owner on several occasions. Here is the alert straight from ARMLS:
A recent scam reported to ARMLS® involves tenants moving into a pending short sale listing. The surprised listing agent contacted the owner who had not rented the property to anyone. The tenants (two women with two children) were physically moving in and had turned on utilities in their name. The sign and the lock box were removed, and all locks were re-keyed.
The tenants responded to a For Rent sign in the yard. They gave someone $1,800 as rent and signed a lease. While the short sale was able to close, the unfortunate victims of this scam were out $1,800 with no place to live.
If you will be listing your property for sale and it is vacant, ask your agent how often it will be serviced (or checked up on). If it is not very frequently, you should plan to check on the property yourself on a regular basis. I routinly check my properties at least once a week on a random basis so no pattern is determined easily by others. I like to make sure the house is presentable, the flyers are present and the sign is in good shape. For vacant properties, I go in to make sure it is looked up and secure, ready for the next potential buyer to come by.
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I heard of this before, it is really cruel. I wonder how they will find the perpetrator.
I know a lot of banks just don’t follow up on their property fast enough either.