As faculty college students scramble to seek out off-campus housing on the final minute, FBI Boston and native police are sounding the alarm about too-good-to-be-true rental scams within the area’s extremely aggressive actual property market.
Authorities are urging renters to be vigilant whereas responding to rental properties and real-estate on-line, stressing that it is a peak season for rental scams — which final 12 months value 290 reported victims in Massachusetts a complete of practically $9 million.
Just lately in Cambridge, for instance, police reported that they helped take down a fraudulent rental property itemizing from Craigslist.
The rental was listed as a model new one-bedroom condo with a balcony in Central Square for $1,800 a month. However, with rental charges climbing, the common fee for a one-bedroom rental in Cambridge is about $3,000 a month.
A Cambridge Police detective investigated the posting, decided that it was a rip-off, and notified Craigslist and the precise leasing workplace of the fraud. The resident didn’t find yourself transferring any cash over to the scammer.
“We have seen a significant increase in the amount of money being lost by people who are desperate for a good deal,” stated Joseph Bonavolonta, particular agent accountable for the FBI Boston division. “Scammers are cashing in on renters who need to act quickly for fear of missing out, and it’s costing consumers thousands of dollars, and in some cases, leaving them stranded.”
Nationwide final 12 months, 11,578 folks reported dropping greater than $350 million resulting from all these scams, a 64% improve from the earlier 12 months. In the FBI Boston division — together with Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine — 415 victims reported greater than $13 million in losses, a 27% soar.
One of these victims was a Rhode Island man who had responded to a web based advert for a Cambridge condo requiring the primary and final month’s lease, together with a safety deposit. The man was instructed that he wouldn’t be given the keys and couldn’t entry the condo till the $6,000 examine cleared the financial institution.
As quickly as that occurred, he made an appointment to gather the keys however nobody answered the door. After calling and texting the purported proprietor, the sufferer obtained a textual content that acknowledged, “You got scammed, do not text this phone anymore.”
Residents and college students who’re on the lookout for residences ought to suppose twice earlier than they ship cash to somebody they don’t know, police warn.
“If possible, potential residents should call and verify the property is available if the property is owned by a company, check their sources, drive by the property, and meet the property manager at the property,” Cambridge Police stated in an announcement.
The emptiness fee for residential rental properties within the U.S. is at its lowest level in 38 years. A brand new report from HelpAdvisor discovered that solely 2.8% of all Boston rental models are vacant, which is the ninth lowest proportion out of 75 main cities.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”