How do we prevent or stop these crimes?

Question

I've been seeing a lot of rental frauds and illegal renting on the news lately. There's also scammers out here that are renting "squatter homes" and are making profits from unoccupied houses offering renters a year of housing for one lump sum. Take a look at this:

Instagram One Time Payment Rentals

Chris Seveney · Answer

Haha. I do not believe anything I see on the news. They take the most extreme opportunities and cases and magnify it for their agenda. You want to be happy in life, do not watch the news.

Account Closed · Answer

Can't really do much about the online fraud. But as far as keeping squatters out of an empty house:Cameras and an alarm system.

Kevin Sobilo · Answer

@Avery Moore, there are rental scams every day of the week even in my relatively modest sized market. @Chris Seveney, I don't think the poster is just talking about professional squatters but all types of rental fraud.

In my market at any time, I could probably find at least several active advertisements where someone is trying to scam people out of AT LEAST application fees perhaps by requiring they apply before seeing a unit or possibly even move-in money. My last turnover, someone stole my pics and was trying to scam renters in this way.

There are also isolated cases where a vacant house is broken into and rented before the owner knows it. It happened a couple years back around the corner from where I live to a house someone renovated and was about to advertise for rent. By the time he knew it, the illegal tenants had already moved in!

The difficulty from what I see is that these sorts of scams are mostly small and local police are ill equipped to investigate and prosecute especially since most of the criminals are not local.

The best idea I have is for a vetting service renters can use to screen potential rentals/landlords. If offered through a real estate brokerage they could also offer some light representation for a modest fee. Even with real landlords, tenants are often taken advantage of and don't know how to cope.

Kevin Sobilo · Answer

@Avery Moore, I'm not sure how the owner got them out. They had not been there long enough to establish rights to the place like a squatter. They didn't stay long though.

How do we prevent or stop these crimes?

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