PAM Golding Properties cautions consumers to be aware of potential scams by those misrepresenting themselves as ghost rental agents or landlords, seeking to prey on aspirant tenants.
Michelle Burger, area manager in Durban, said that unfortunately, in today’s world, cyber fraud generally is on the increase.
“A common method is to create a false ‘advertisement’ on social media platforms or online portals such as Gumtree, misrepresenting him or herself as the landlord of a rental property and sending interested tenants a fake rental application with a request for a deposit or admin fee. Regrettably, we’ve recently had this occur with the scammer copying and adapting our advertisement for a rental property and inserting his details. In this way, by misrepresenting himself, he fraudulently created direct access to potential tenants, who, unless they verify the bank details provided to them by the scammer for the ‘deposit’ or ‘admin fee’, may then deposit funds directly into his bank account,” she said.
Burger said this is not only to the detriment of the potential tenant, who is then significantly out of pocket, but also damaging to the legitimate rental property industry, which is subject to regulation by the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB).
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She said the properties are usually pegged by the scammer at well below market-related rentals, with the units situated in popular apartment blocks or schemes. This has the result of inducing would-be tenants to pay so-called deposits and rentals, and sign bogus lease agreements quickly – on the basis that the tenant believes he or she is competing with a number of other tenants for the same sought-after property.
“Having signed the lease, the tenant returns it to the bogus agent, who ostensibly has it signed by a ‘phantom’ landlord, upon which the tenant parts with their money, never to hear from the ‘agent’ again and not having secured any real right to the premises. In some cases the deposit and first month’s rental are ostensibly paid without a lease having been signed by the parties and to ‘secure’ the premises.”
She says in order to ensure that would-be tenants do not fall foul of these scams, it is advisable to check that the estate agent actually exists and is the person you are dealing with, that they are registered with the EAAB, that they hold a valid Fidelity Fund Certificate and importantly, before making any payments, verify that the agency’s bank details are correct via the agency itself.
Insist on viewing the premises before committing to anything and on meeting the estate agent in person whenever possible, unless of course you know you are dealing with a credible estate agent. When in doubt, do not proceed until you are certain and satisfied in all respects regarding the tenancy on offer.
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“And if you are dealing directly with a landlord, ensure that the person is the owner of the property or alternatively ensure that the owner’s representative is duly authorised to enter into the lease or that the person has a real right to the property and is thus able to let it.” Remember to ask for proper identification. Estate agents have a legal obligation to identify and verify their client, namely, the landlord.
“A further challenge is that someone with a real right to a property, such as a tenant, can legally sub-let the property if authorised to do so by the owner. If this is the case, verify such authority and that the sub-let may subsist for the intended period. Finally, do not pay deposits or rental until you have a lease signed by landlord and tenant with due regard to the above,” she said.
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