CASA GRANDE, AZ — A new year may mean a new lease, but don’t let housing scammers take advantage of the Valley’s housing crunch.
Talisha-Ann Rosaro and her husband listed their home for rent in November after they had to move an hour away to help a family member with cancer.
“We’re still trying, it’s still out there. It’s on Zillow,” Rosaro said.
To her surprise this week, she logged onto social media to find photos of her home being advertised by a complete stranger.
“It was just really disheartening,” Rosaro said.
She went online to let people know about the fake post impacting her ability to find real renters.
“So putting it out there and showing the different signs that a post is a scam, I really hope it helps protect the people who are potentially trying to rent out a home for themselves,” Rosaro said.
Let ABC15 Know has been keeping tabs on scams like this running rampant online for years.
“It’s been ongoing since the start of a lot of the apps that are out there,” Sindy Ready with the Arizona Association of Realtors said.
Ready says there are some things listers can do to make it harder for scammers to take advantage of posts, like working with licensed realtors who manage and monitor marketing, setting up Google alerts for the address, and even watermarking photos.
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“A lot of people now are watermarking it saying this is for sale only not for rent not on the picture, so if someone is trying to steal the picture, they have a harder time with it,” Ready said.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office says prospective renters should look out for red flags like:
- Rental prices “well below” market price for similar properties.
- Poorly written rental descriptions with misspellings or bad grammar
- Companies or individuals listing rental properties who are not reachable by phone during normal business hours; who tell you that they are out of state or out of the country; or who request communication via text only.
- Upfront fees in addition to normal application and credit check fees
- Payments only made by wired funds, gift cards or through cash-only apps.
Ready said renters should also do their due diligence in researching if the home address is also associated with any other listings online or potentially even for sale. People can look up property owners' information on their county assessor’s website.
“If you drive by the house sometimes there’s a for sale sign out in the yard but it’s saying it’s for rent so you can just call the listing agent off the sign,” Ready said.
Anyone who feels like they’ve been the victim of fraud can file with the Arizona Attorney General.
