As rents soar, so do scams preying on those looking for a place to live

A London, Ont., mom is warning the public about a rental scam that almost cost her thousands of dollars — and it's one that real estate professionals say is happening more often. 

"If I had sent them first and last months' rent, that would have been $3,400," said Taylor Morris, who is looking for a place for herself and her four kids, and narrowly avoided being duped after answering a Facebook Marketplace ad for a rental property. 

The four-bedroom, two-bathroom home in east London that was listed as available for rent for $1,700 per month is actually for sale, and the owner and Realtor knew nothing about the Facebook ad. Pictures featured in the ad were taken without permission from a real estate listing, Morris said. 

It's a scam agents are aware of and is difficult to prevent, said Bobbi Maroney, a real estate agent at Streetcity Realty in London. "We get calls about this frequently, on a weekly basis." 

The ad on Marketplace caught Morris's eye because of the low rent — it's nearly impossible to get a place for a family of five for a reasonable price, she said. 

"I messaged them and they said I needed to fill out an application and send a $50 application fee. I had heard of that, so I thought, 'OK, no big deal.'"

Home actually not for rent

But after sending the $50, something seemed off, Morris said. The names on the lease document sent to Morris didn't match some of the other information she was provided. Her mom suggested she drive by the place, to see if she liked the neighbourhood, before sending the $450 the scammer was asking for to hold the listing. 

"When I got there, I saw the For Sale sign, and I thought that was strange because they never mentioned it was for sale," Morris said. When she called the Realtor on the sign, he was flabbergasted — the Facebook Marketplace ad had used the same images as his Realtor.ca listing, but the home was definitely not for rent. 

"I messaged the person on Facebook and they blocked me," Morris said. 

Such scams have been around for the last five years or so and could be gaining traction as more Londoners look for a place to rent in a tight market, said Kathy Amess, who heads the London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors. 

"It's something that's been happening for a while," she said. "I hear about it way more than I'd like to hear about it. With the increasing cost of rentals, it makes it a little easier for some of these people to try and scam unsuspecting tenants." 

There's little real estate agents can do to avoid their pictures ending up in scam advertisements. As soon as a scam is detected, it's important to report it to the host website so it can be taken down, Amess said.

"Some of the sites are more responsive than others at removing an ad." 

If a listing seems below market value, it's important to do some research, she added.

"If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. The other thing is, if there's a place that you're interested in, Google the address. There should be information that can tell you the listing agent or other information." 

Morris is still on the hunt for a home for herself and her kids.

"I never heard of anything like this before," she said.