Rental scams are a reality and there are individuals who will say and do anything they can to get money from unsuspecting renters.

The best way you can protect yourself is to deal with a professionally managed rental housing provider like CAPREIT.

You can be assured that our trained leasing staff will aim to meet you in person or digitally in an effort to get to know your needs and find you the perfect place to call home. Something, a scammer will not do for you. This process of getting to know you is also a great opportunity for you to get to know our team and the building, an important step that benefits you, us and our current residents.

Things To Watch Out For

• You are NOT asked to meet in person, even if you’re not able to a good rental housing provider will make sure to meet you either in person or digitally which enhances the screening process.
• You should expect Rental Housing Providers to request references or a credit check, be wary if they don’t.
• Scammers may try to convince you to wire deposits or rent payments and will make excuses to avoid meeting with you in person.
• The price is too good to be true. A unit that is priced well below what other properties in the area are renting for could be a red flag.
•  Be attentive to an ad for a place that does NOT exist.
• You are asked to sign a lease or make a deposit for a different property.
• The listing has many errors, for example, spelling mistakes or poor grammar.
• The listing is asking for personal information like bank account info or Social Insurance Number (SIN)
• Scammers may try to convince you they represent a CAPREIT property – please ensure you are contacting CAPREIT via the contact information posted on our property pages.

How To Protect Yourself

• Meet the rental housing provider in person, if not possible then request for a realtime video meet.
• Research the listing, always Google the property’s address and compare with what is on the rental housing providers webpage.
• Never deal in cash, wire transfer, Bitcoin or hard to trace money-grams
• Rental Housing Providers can only ask for deposits mandated by each province. For example, in Ontario, you should be asked provide only last month’s rent and a refundable key deposit when you sign the application/lease.
• Speak with current residents, if you can
• Ensure you get a copy of the lease and that it clearly identifies the owner/Rental Housing Provider
• Consider renting from a Rental Housing Provider, like CAPREIT.  There is easy access to information and reviews online about them.

What To Do If You’ve Been Scammed

• Report the scam to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
• Contact the local authorities
• Contact the listing website where you saw the listing to have them take down the ad
• Contact the rental office of the building in question to let them know of the scam

For more information, tips and resources, please see our blog post: How to protect yourself from scams while renting an apartment

https://www.capreit.ca/how-to-protect-yourself-from-scams-while-renting-an-apartment/