Property Management Blog

How Common Are Home Rental Scams and Fraud?

System - Wednesday, January 6, 2021

In the first quarter of this year, we want to talk about the work we’re doing to protect you from scams and fraud. In your next three newsletters, you can expect to read about:

  • How common are scams and fraud?
  • How scams hurt rental property owners.
  • How we’re protecting you and your property.

How common is fraud?

According to the Federal Trade Commission, the number of reported rental scams grow from year to year. Identity theft and imposter scams are the most common types of fraud, and in 2019, the FTC investigated more than 2 million cases.

Rental scams fall into the imposter scam category.

How do these scams work?

With rental property fraud, you could be scammed without realizing it.

Scammers often advertise rentals that don’t exist or aren’t available. Or, they’ll steal your ad and even your photos and create a similar listing, usually for a lot less money. People will respond, and the scammer will collect funds from prospective tenants.

Those tenants think they’re renting your property – which puts you in a very bad position.

You won’t be able to find the scammer, and you’ll have an angry would-be tenant demanding their money back – from you.

How can we not be victims of these scams?

The best way to avoid these situations is to understand how they work and to stay one step ahead of the perpetrators. Strong policies and procedures for listing properties and photos helps. At Sienna Properties, we’re always working to educate potential tenants so they know not to fall for rental prices that look too good to be true or send money before seeing a property.

We track potential scams and monitor our listings carefully. Our systems keep you safe from fraud, and we continue improving on our processes as these scammers try to get more creative.