How to rent an apartment and not become a victim of scammers

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You decided to rent an apartment and did not turn to a realtor, but plunged headlong into the abyss of rental advertisements.

For starters, a good tip: don't be limited to sites with ads. You can find great deals on thematic groups on social media. Also, look for posts by the words "rent an apartment" and the name of your city on user pages - there will also be options. Often these are ads from owners - save on commissions.

Signs of deception

When you look at the options, you should be alerted:

Too low price. Miracles do not happen: if you are offered an apartment in the center at the cost of a studio in a dysfunctional area, they are trying to deceive you.
Lack of photos. The deceivers have no objects of their own, so they simply have nothing to show you.
Stolen photographs. People are not attracted to ads without illustrations, so fraudsters steal images from the Internet. You can check the photo in Yandex or Google on the Pictures tab. Just open the illustration and paste the link from the address bar of your browser into the required window. You should be alerted if the picture is used for ads in different cities of Russia. If they relate to the same property, just look for the ad that was published first - there is a chance to get to the owner.

Copy the URL of the image

In "Yandex" select the "Pictures" tab

Click on the camera icon

Paste the URL

In Google, select the "Pictures" tab

Click on the camera icon

Paste the URL

All these alarm bells indicate that a non-existent apartment is being rented to you. There may be three groups of deceivers behind this.

Types of scammers

1. News agencies

Sometimes these organizations are mistakenly confused with realtors. However, they themselves may call themselves that to muffle the vigilance of the client. But a conscientious realtor can really help you find your dream apartment. The news agency just wants to charge you money.

The scheme of deception is as follows: you call the ad, but they tell you that the apartment has already been rented out. But for a small fee, you will be given a list of objects that fit your requirements. Such a list may actually be provided to you. But there will be all the same ads from the Internet or random addresses.

2. Outright scammers

These people are not going to rent anything to you. But they can actively earn money by charging an advance payment from gullible tenants who are ready to pay even before the first viewing. Fraudsters can impersonate owners or realtors, but the outcome is the same: you will lose money and not get an apartment.

Signs of deception are easy to spot if you call the ad. But it is better not to waste time and cut off the fraudster already at this stage.

Another potential divorce scheme is to ask for a passport photo in front of your face to verify you. Disagree. Scammers use such images to issue microloans online. We are talking about incomprehensible addressees. You can send a photo with a passport, for example, to identify an electronic wallet.

3. Unscrupulous realtors

They post engaging ads for you to call. Your number will get into the customer base, and you will be attacked in order to offer your services.

Calls on ad

Few people are lucky enough to call the first ad and immediately find a place to live. So, if you are seriously concerned about finding an apartment, draw up a table of suitable options for yourself and start consistently communicating with the landlord's representatives.

Somewhere you are lucky to immediately contact the owner, somewhere the realtor will take the call. If you don't mind paying a commission, then the second option will suit you. It is much worse to stumble upon a realtor who pretends to be the owner. If a person is already cheating on you at this stage, you should not trust him.

In order not to waste time, ask a few questions about the apartment. If the interlocutor cannot give an answer with certainty or takes long pauses for questions that are not answered in the ad, this is most likely a realtor.

If a person is already on the words "I am calling about the apartment" asks "Which apartment?" or asks for the ad number, here everything is completely obvious: you are dealing with an intermediary.

Whoever you are talking to, ask a few questions:

How much does the apartment cost and are utilities included in the price. The price may differ from the one indicated in the ad.
Is there a commission. Sometimes not only realtors are ready to take it, but also the matchmaker-cousin of the owner, on whose behalf the ad is placed.
Is the owner ready to bring documents confirming his ownership of the apartment.

Remember that you don't have to pay anything to anyone at this stage. This is a direct path to the victim of a scammer.

First visit

Cheating schemes

It is better to familiarize yourself with all the documents of the owner now. This will help protect yourself from several fraud schemes at once:

Malefactors rent an apartment for daily rent and rent it out for a long time, while they themselves disappear with rent and a deposit. Both the owner and the tenants find themselves in an unpleasant situation.
Fraudsters act in conjunction with the owners. The apartment is rented to you by a third party. You give money. But the next day, the allegedly furious owner appears and evicts you.
One of the owners rents an apartment to you. But the co-owner or the landlord's spouse is unhappy. And you will have to leave again.

Papers to be checked

1. Documents confirming the ownership of the apartment

This could be:

Certificate of ownership if the property was taken over before July 15, 2016.
Extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate - for any object.

You can get a statement yourself, for this you need to know the exact address of the apartment. Just fill out the appropriate form at Rosreestr. You will have to pay 400 rubles for an electronic statement.

How to rent an apartment and not become a victim of scammers: check the documents confirming the ownership of the apartment

Technically, you can get this information in advance at the address of the apartment, but it's a pity to waste 400 rubles. The document will be done within three working days.

From the extract you can find out how many owners the apartment has and who they are.

It will also be nice if the owner brings the document according to which the right of ownership passed to him. This could be:

Contract of sale.
Certificate of the right to inheritance.
Property division agreement.
The court's decision.
Donation agreement.

So the owner of the apartment will go through a kind of "two-factor authentication".

2. Passport of the owner

See if the passport data match those indicated in the extracts and contracts. Rewrite your passport series and number to check its validity at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

How to rent an apartment and not become a victim of scammers: check the owner's passport

Notice if the person is married. Check the dates when the property was purchased. If at this time the owner was married, a notarized consent of the spouse is required to rent the apartment. Otherwise, you can easily be evicted, as the lease will be invalid. If the owner of the apartment is divorced, but was married when he bought it, then ask for a court decision or an agreement on the division of property, according to which the object went to him.

If the house was inherited or was donated, then this is his personal property and the consent of the spouse does not need to be required.

3. Consent of other owners

The landlord must have written consent from the rest of the owners. Otherwise, they can challenge the contract and demand your eviction at any time.

After the first visit

This is where the passport data that you carefully rewrote will come in handy. Check if the owner of the apartment is on the blacklists of landlords. Usually, the corresponding lists are easy to find on social networks or on specialized sites.

Also, punch it through the system base "". So you will find out how much this person is suing and because of what - maybe just because of the right to the apartment that he rents.

So you will protect yourself not only from scammers, but also simply from unpleasant people.

Signing a contract

If you liked everything, it's time to fill out the contract. Lifehacker told how to do it. It is important that the document contains the following information:

Lease term (so you cannot be evicted tomorrow).
Check-out conditions. Indicate how long the owner must report in order for you to vacate the apartment.
Passport data and information from documents confirming ownership.
The amount of money that you gave the owner upon check-in and that he must return to you upon check-out. Specify separately the conditions under which the homeowner can withhold part of the deposit. There must be reasons for such a decision, the desire to make money for you is not enough.
Inventory of things. Indicate how many chairs, chandeliers and kettles were in the apartment, so that later you will not be faced with a demand to compensate for the absence of gold toilets.

Make sure that the owner gives you the keys to all locks. Otherwise, it may happen that you cannot get into the apartment. Ideally, it is worth replacing the locks in case previous residents still have copies. But this can only be done with the permission of the owner. He will need to give duplicates.

Monthly rent transfer

In case of disagreement, you will need to prove that you rented this apartment. If you are transferring money to the owner, a bank statement will help you. When handing over cash, take a receipt from the landlord or make a note on the contract for the landlord to sign.

Outcome

Be vigilant at all stages: from finding an apartment to monthly payment.
Do not pay anyone before signing a rental agreement. A conscientious realtor charges at this very moment.
Check the documents of the owner of the apartment.

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