Protecting Yourself from Scams

Rental scams are becoming more common in Florida, especially Southwest and Central Florida.

The News-Press recently ran an article about rental scams taking place in Ft. Myers and Naples and the efforts that are being done to protect renters and catch perpetrators committing fraud and theft.

As Palmetto Law Group has written about previously in the blog post, “CAVEAT EMPTOR, CAVEAT VENDITOR: How to avoid being scammed when using the classifieds and other resources for rental properties” use extreme caution in using craigslist as a source for your rental needs. The article in the News-Press mentions one similarity in the issue renters are facing in Florida - “The number of rental scam reports have been increasing Gleason said. And they all have one thing in common. They originate on Craigslist.”

Don’t be a rental scam victim. Protect yourself, and your hard earned money and don’t become another mark for a scammer. What can a prospective Florida Tenant do to protect yourself? Internet searches can be an effective tool for a variety of goods and services but as with most things in life, you have to protect yourself otherwise no one will.

Some tips from Palmetto Law Group from our previous article:

• Check the Clerk of Court website for the county the rental residence is in. There are extensive public records on these websites where potential tenants can search either by name or sometimes address to check if the potential rental is in foreclosure.
• Go to the county property appraiser website and check to make sure the person you are renting from is in fact the owner of the property. You can usually enter information based on the property address or owner.
• Get a copy of the driver’s license of the person renting you the property and make sure it is valid. They get all of your personal information, why not get a little bit of theirs so that you know they are who they say they are.

Two additional tips that the original article does a good job of adding, “don’t wire money or use a prepaid debit card such as GreenDot to make a payment” and if you are meeting a person to exchange money, meet in a public place. Public place can mean a gas station, mall or even better, a police station. Many local jurisdictions are now encouraging buyers and sellers to use police stations for these online transactions. One last bit of advice would be if you are using craigslist and something seems too good to be true, it may very well be.

Feel free to give us a call toll free at 1-855-529-7256, or simply reach out to us through our online portal.