Renting an apartment on Craigslist - 4 very similar applicants. Is this a scam?

May 1, 2008 8:44 PM

Renting an apartment on Craigslist - 4 very similar applicants. Is this a scam?

I have had a 2 bedroom apartment listed for rent on Craigslist for one week today. So far, I have received 4 emails from interested parties that are suspiciously similar, but in every other way seem legit.
All are currently living out of town and are moving to the area to attend an area university. All are couples with a dog (our listing says "dogs allowed"). Two say they will be in town in a week or so and wish to see the apartment. One will rent sight unseen, but asked to have her brother look at the place beforehand. I spoke with this one on the phone, she was very nice and normal, seemed legit in every way. The fourth just said she will be in town next month and to keep her in mind if the place is still available.
Is it possible that this is a coincidence or is this some kind of scam? Does anyone have experience with this? Am I being overly cautious?
We rented the upper apartment 2.5 years ago via Craigslist, and we did get some scam replies, but they always involved a 3rd party that would be paying us, sometimes WAY over the asking price. Also, the interested party was usually overseas.
Have the scammers just gotten more clever and convincing? We need to rent this place soon, so I don't want to waste time on scam inquiries.
Thanks in advance.

posted by bradn to work & money (11 comments total)

So far none of the replies have mentioned any fishy money-swaps or anything, right? I think you just managed to hit a point where lots of folks are looking for an apartment like yours. 2 bedrooms, dog-friendly, in a university area - I wouldn't be surprised to get similar responses.
posted by pupdog at 8:54 PM on May 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

I don't think it's a scam. Similar people generally rent the same kinds of places, especially the dog and university thing. When I sublet my place I got easily 50 or more replies and 3/4 were from law students who were from out of town, and I have no reason to think any weren't legit. Plenty offered to rent it with only seeing photos, but honestly some people simply aren't the in the position to fly out to see a place before they move. Also, the price and size of your place may be more attractive to couple for whatever reason. Just take all the usual precautions, but I wouldn't worry about it.
posted by whoaali at 9:01 PM on May 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

There is no immediate reason to be suspicious. Pay closer attention when it comes time for money to change hands.
posted by wfrgms at 9:28 PM on May 1, 2008

Is it possible that this is an effort by some agency investigating discrimination in housing to send random craigslist posters almost identical responses that differ in some key way that people are likely to be illegally discriminate against?


See for instance, this news article about a lawsuit against Craigslist for such housing discrimination.
posted by andoatnp at 9:46 PM on May 1, 2008

perhaps it's someone that _really_ wants the place, and figures sending several responses will give them a better shot? stranger things have happened, especially in crazy housing markets, s.f., ny, etc.

frankly, craigslist is one bullshit thing after another these days.
posted by tremspeed at 10:40 PM on May 1, 2008

I can't quite spot anything odd (people moving to town do need to find places when moving into town) but your bs-radar has gone off and intuition is something I believe in.

may I suggest having a second person present in case these people do turn out to be creepy? there was a recent couple in manhattan that stole whatever they could during open houses, so that could be it as well. also consider that it would make sense for a burglar to check out how places are secured before returning six weeks or even months later for an unnanounced visit.
posted by krautland at 3:10 AM on May 2, 2008

also: never let anyone move in without you having met them. the operator rent unseen works both ways and we all have met creepy people before.
posted by krautland at 3:11 AM on May 2, 2008

It's REALLY hard to find a decent apartment that will take dogs, so if you specifically say you're dog-friendly in your ad, I wouldn't be surprised that all of your potential renters have dogs.
posted by desjardins at 7:10 AM on May 2, 2008 [1 favorite]

Thanks for all the advice and comment. When I had several responses that were from out of town, soon to be moving to attend school, etc, I started getting suspicious and wanted to check to see if there was a scam that begins this way. I will continue to entertain these offers and take the necessary precautions when it gets to the lease signing point.

I was not surprised that these people have dogs, or that the fact that we allow dogs makes this an attractive listing. It was just another similarity in these 4 responses.
posted by bradn at 7:39 AM on May 2, 2008

Scam scam scam. I tried renting my apartment on craigslist, and got one of these (same story, out of town but will rent unseen). What will happen is, they'll offer to pay you the rent by check with too much money, and ask you to forward them the rest of the money once it clears.

But it's a bogus check, and eventually your bank will find out and come back to you for the money, and you'll be screwed.
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 10:50 AM on May 2, 2008

I've often wondered about that kind of scam. If your bank tells you that the check has cleared, and then it later turns out to be bogus... isn't that the bank's problem, not yours? Isn't the bank supposed to verify the check >before< clearing it? Isn't that the entire reason why the check doesn't clear right away in the first place?
posted by Caviar at 7:53 PM on May 2, 2008