REAL ESTATE SCAMS/FRAUD

With the real estate business changing daily and people finding themselves more and more in financial trouble, it is getting easier for people to get taken advantage of. It seems like everyone is looking for some kind of help financially or a way to reduce their total debt. Although there are some legitimate ways of doing so, many people are finding themselves going from bad to worse by getting scammed. This page is to help people be more aware of the real estate scams that are out there in today's market:

Craigslist Rental Scam:
People are placing ads on Craigslist for rentals properties that they have. Scammers are asking for very low rents and telling people that they will need a deposit to hold the property if interested. They usually tell you that the deposit needs to be cash (a red flag) and to send it to them or bring it to them somewhere. They then take off with the money and they were in no way tied to the property. They are finding these properties off of the MLS and can usually tell when they are vacant. In some cases, they are even breaking into the property and holding open houses or showing the properties to potential tenants.

How to protect yourself:

If looking for a rental, especially when using a public (and free) website like craigslist, make sure that the person you are talking with does have the right to be renting the property. Ask who the owner is and you can even ask for proof (title sheet, id, mail, etc). You can get a title coversheet from just about any real estate office which will tell you who owns the property. When renting, you are asked for all information including name, social, address, birthday, etc. If you are giving all of this information to them, don't you think you have the right to know who they are. Also, make sure you never give social security number or other important information unless you are confident that it is not a scam.

Buy a new house and walk from your current one:
This is FRAUD! Many people and Realtors are taking this advice and acting on it. They are purchasing a new home if they can qualify and then they are letting their current home get foreclosed on. This way they are no longer upside down on their mortgage and their foreclosure on their credit will not affect them qualifying for a new home-they already own it. This is fraud and many people are going to jail for doing this.

Selling a property without the owner's consent:
Another common real estate fraud is selling a property without the owne'rs consent. The uninhabited, recently inherited and otherwise unguarded property is the most probable target for such scams. The most inventive thieves are able to even sell the same property to several buyers at the same time. However, if they have sold it only to a single buyer, the fraud can go unnoticed for months or even a year. By that time, the “owner” is long gone, usually in another state, selling another home to someone else.

Contractor Fraud:
Another thing to keep an eye on is contractors taking advantage of homeowners. With today's market, many people are looking to remodel rather than move because of the difficulty in getting a loan. The scam works by illegal contractors (who are not contractors at all) advertising in the penny saver or craigslist and coming out to give you an estimate on a project. They give you a great deal on whatever project you are planning and they want to collect a deposit up front. Once they get the deposit, they never show up again and are long gone.

How to protect yourself:

Always check a contractor's license number, name, etc. at the following website:

www.cslb.ca.gov