Moving to a new city involves countless hurdles and challenges. Top of every list: finding a place to live. You have a dossier to prepare, different priorities to consider, and lots of factors that make choosing the right apartment difficult. And apartment hunting in Paris is competitive. You can expect it to be at least a little stressful. So the last thing you need is to fall prey to rental scams. Even though most landlords and rental agencies are well intentioned, there are people out there hoping to take advantage of your uncertainty.
In this article, we take a look at some simple, yet extremely effective tips to help you detect rental scams , and offer advice on how you can avoid being hustled when hunting for an apartment in the city. Rental scams are any type of fraudulent activity by an individual or a group to misrepresent a property and earn extra money from the transaction. The main goal in a scam situation is to collect money from prospective tenants without providing the property as advertised.
The money they collect can be in the form of:. There are plenty more forms of rental fraud to watch out for. You just need to watch out for certain behaviors or tendencies to stay safe. Avoiding rental scams is a matter of knowing what to watch for, and asking for more information when things seem off. Here are the biggest red flags to avoid. The other flags are more specific, but this is a good starting point. If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.
So if one listing is clearly different from all the restβlow price, huge surface area, incredible amenities, or unthinkable locationβapproach with caution. And ask a lot of questions. So many interactions take place online these days, it can feel normal that a whole transaction could take place remotely. But real estate deals involve physical property and in-person relationships. Some have even been known to lie about being in the military and deployed overseas.
Renting your property to someone is a major decision that requires trust. Which brings us to the next red flag. As a simple rule of thumb, never sign a lease, pay a deposit, or hand over any other fees before you see the apartment. Scammers might try to hard-sell you, saying that the rental is very popular, that there are lots of potential applicants, and that you need to act fast to secure it for yourself.
