By: Dennis Norman
The FBI has issued a consumer alert warning of phony online rental ads. According to the alert, the scam goes like this:
You can’t believe your good fortune-you find a rental home in a nice area through a Craigslist classified ad at an unbelievably low rate. The landlord-who had to leave the country and travel to Nigeria-asks that you wire him two months worth of rent. You arrive at the home on the agreed-upon date, but there is just one small problem- the house is not actually for rent and its owners know nothing about your agreement.
This latest scam is being perpetrated by Nigerian criminals located halfway aroudn the world and has been seen in a number of U.S. states, perhaps in response to the current housing market- with fewer people buying, more people are renting.
The FBI offers these tips to avoid being victimized:
- Only deal with landlords or renters who are local
- Be suspicious if you’re asked to only use a wire transfer service
- Beware of email correspondence from the “landlord” that is written in poor or broken English
- Research the average rental rates in that area and be suspicious if the rate is significantly lower
- Don’t give out personal information, like social security, bank account, or credit card numbers.
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Over the past few months many people renting or leasing a home have had a rude awakening when they suddenly are told to vacate their home as a result of the property owner losing the home in foreclosure. Many times tenants are unaware of the owners plight prior to this so it leaves the tenant in a very difficult, and many times unfair, position.
There is some help and protection now though. Congress recently addressed this problem as part of the “Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009″ which went into effect as law on May 20, 2009, provides for the following:
Read more…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
First off, my usual disclaimer…I am not an attorney and this is not intended to be legal advice or a legal opinion. I’m simply reporting on “news” that I think is interesting and relevant to apartment and condominium dwellers.
Some time ago, it seems around the early 90′s, I remember hearing from a friend of mine that owned hundreds of apartment units how much money he just received from a cable company by offering them the “exclusive” right to offer it’s services to his tenants. In other words, if you were a tenant in one of his apartments your only choice for television (other than broadcast TV that you could receive without the aid of an antenna on the building) was the cable company my friend the apartment-owner had selected. You would not have any other choices.
Apparently many condominium developments went the same route. The developer would enter into an exclusive agreement with a cable provider (or I assume a satellite provider) and then owners of units in that development would have no other choice. Read more…
