As many of you know, the housing market in the Bay Area has been, in one word, “crazy” with a shortage of housing units available for sale and rent. I was recently out and about looking at properties for sale when I spotted a big sign in the front yard of one of the listings. It stated that this home is not for rent and is listed for sale, and if anyone tells you it’s for rent, it’s a scam!
The sign reminded me of a few stories and cases I have seen where scammers would troll neighborhoods looking for vacant properties, break in to those properties to change the locks, and then list the property on Craigslist and other rental websites. They would claim to be the owner of the property and then take huge “security deposits” and rent payments, leaving an unsuspecting “tenant” with a fraudulent rental agreement that was giving the tenant a false piece of mind. Eventually, the real owner of the property would have to call someone like me to evict the trespassing tenant. Here is how you can reduce the probability of being part of this housing scam.
Hire a Good Property Management Company
Probably your number-one defense against scammers is having eyes constantly on your property, especially if your property is going to be vacant for any period of time before it’s rented or sold. Owners that live outside the area or who are just too busy to watch their property definitely need to consider getting a good property management company. The more traffic that comes by the property, the less likely it will be that a scammer will target your place. Scammers want soft, easy targets so no one will pick up on their activities. Occasionally, a squatter does get into a home, but if a manager has eyes on the property from time to time, that squatter won’t be there for that long.
Make the Property Appear Occupied
Along with having eyes on the property, you can make your property less of a target by making it appear occupied. This can be done with minimal investment by getting a few light timers and some lamps to randomly go on and off during the evening hours. If you wanted to get a little fancy, you could buy a device called a Fake TV at Amazon.com and really make your home look occupied. To the casual scammer, the stakes are now potentially higher. A scammer might say, If I break into an occupied home, I may get shot, or I may face more heat than I want since breaking into an occupied home is home invasion. The police generally put more effort into investigating home invasions than they do breaking into a vacant home. I’m sure you get the picture. I’ve even seen some Realtors put up signs that say “Do Not Disturb Occupants.” All these things can make scammers think twice about invading your home.
The bottom line is, if you own property that will be vacant for some period of time, you need to keep eyes on it, whether they’re your eyes or someone else’s. And you need to take some simple steps make your home appear occupied to discourage the crooks who are looking to make a buck off of your situation.
