12 Signs Of A Rental Scam
Posted by Michelle Moquin on June 29th, 2010
Good Morning.
So I watched Keith Olbermann last night on MSNBC. “But wait,” you’re thinking. “Michelle, you’re television isn’t working. Didn’t it go on the brink about 6 months ago?” Yes indeed it did, and it has been a pretty glorious 6 months and oodles of hours gained. Albeit there was many times I missed watching the nightly news and quite a few times that I wished I could’ve watched a movie on the big screen. But hey, the Huff Po online made up for it, and it was kind of nice hovering over my Mac screen to watch a flick. If I got real close, it was almost as good as a big screen. Okay, that last part was stretching it a bit. :)
But those days are now over. Yes, miracles do happen and they’re happening right here. This past weekend, I was craving a smoothy and bummed that my Vita-mix had gone on the brink too, about a year, or maybe even longer, ago. The motor just died one day. So I decided that I had lived without it for too long and it was time to pull it out and bring it in. We bought this mixer when it first came out, and it is the ultimate machine. And we spent way too much on this marvelous mixer to just let it sit in the attic gaining dust while my mouth was watering at the thought of a sweet summer smoothy.
So up in the attic I went, and knowing exactly where it was, I grabbed it and headed to the kitchen. I figured before I called a repair place to bring it in, I would just give it a whirl and see if there was any juice left for juicing. Surprisingly and miraculously, the mixer motor started humming a familiar tune that made me smile, and shout out a victorious ‘Yes!’
So…you’re probably thinking, “Okay Michelle, great news about the Vita-mix, but what about the TV?” Oh yeah…the TV.
So…I decided, hmm…maybe if I plug in the TV it will miraculously work too. I ran over to the living room and gave it a go. No such luck.
However, a few hours later when Doug came home, I informed him of our little miracle and my attempt at trying to create another one. What I didn’t realize was that there were a few more plugs that needed plugging in. Doug did so, played around with it a little bit and to make a long story short, voila! Miracle #2 happened! A second shout of victory rang through the house, followed by a few more. I was filled with giddy glee!…And then another miracle….well not really. But there he was…the man of the hour…Keith Olbermann…back in our house, in our living room. I sunk back into the couch and gave gratitude.
And then an hour later I sunk back even further and Doug and I watched, ‘True Blood’. I figured in all of the oodles of hours that we gained from not watching TV, a little time wasted watching blood-sucking sex, was worth it. :)
Thanks for letting me share some of the simple joys in life this morning. Oh…and before I forget, can someone please let Palin know that Eureka College isn’t in Eureka, California?
And my disclaimer: No, I did not get my Vita-mix fixed for free because I blogged about it. It truly was a miracle. But I do recommend one if you’re looking for the Mercedez of mixers.
And as promised….
12 Signs of a Rental Scam
Often, your instinct will let you know there’s something not quite right about a proposed rental deal, but here are 12 tell-tale signs that suggest something’s amiss:
General (typical of a Nigerian scam):
1. Communication is exclusively by email or cell phone.
2. The “owner” or “renter” claims to be out of the country.
3. Communication is urgent — the person seems in a hurry to close the deal immediately.
4. Messages use poor spelling and grammar and, frequently, religious terms like “God Bless.”
For Renters:
5. The house has a “For Sale” but not a “For Rent” sign.
6. The lock box is broken or the “agent” appears to have his own, different key to let you in.
7. The “owner” or “managing agent” is based out of town.
8. The home appears to contain someone else’s personal belongings.
9. The rental sum is lower than the going rate for the locality.
For Owners:
10. The inquirer asks questions that are already answered in your flyer or ad (like when the place is available or what the rent will be).
11. The “renter” claims he’s prepared to take the deal sight-unseen (usually a prelude to an advance fee scam).
12. The “renter” requests that you buy things or hire a contractor to do some work on the place first (usually the scammer is the “contractor”).
What You Can Do
Whether you’re an owner or a renter, you can dramatically cut the risk of being scammed by taking just a few simple safety measures:
* Always seek and confirm the identity of the person you’re dealing with. You want a confirmable name and address or even a notarized ID. For renters, you should be able to confirm ownership of the property on county registers.
* Check out average rental prices in the locality. Realtors and managing agents can help. Or visit a site like RentBits.com, which compiles rates for big metropolitan areas.
* Never rent or lease a home sight unseen. When you think of it, who would really agree to such a thing?
* Never wire money to someone you don’t know, no matter how plausible their story, and never hand over cash for rent or deposit without confirming ownership (as discussed above) and without seeing, reading, and double-checking any lease agreement before signing.
* If you own but don’t live in a home (whether it’s for rent or not) keep a close, regular eye on it and, if you do rent it out, change the locks between tenancies.
* If you’re renting, it may be preferable to work with a bona fide rental agency. Some owners do legitimately rent out privately, but just be more wary when dealing with them.
The Federal Trade Commission has also published one of its consumer alerts which provides further useful information. Click here to read.
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Zen Lill: Good questions too. Happy to hear that I’m getting your thinker thinking. :) keep it up – I look forward to hearing your research. Have a fab day!
Readers: Wha’at’s up? Blog this BABE
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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June 29th, 2010 at 10:08 am
…after miraculously getting the TV going again, I took Lucy for a walk. I enjoy walking around the marina and hanging around the boats. After a nice walk with “the kid” we got back in the car. I will add that, my car radio had died over 18 months ago. Upon the “touch” we have going at our house, I thought I would try my radio again. To my amazement, it started up. It is quite a thing!!
June 29th, 2010 at 11:03 am
When I first briefed your title, I thought it said 12 signs of a rectal scam…good info
June 29th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Hi Mischa, I am Jonesing for a VitaMix! It us the MBZ if blenders plus much more…sometime soon I will have a miracle and one will come to me easily : )
Doug, hahaha, what was in your mind this morning? Ahahaha I can’t stop laughing at that rectal comment.
Nitey nite, luv, Zen Lill
June 30th, 2010 at 8:54 am
[...] Doug: I am laughing too – Yeah what is on your mind? [...]