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Out-of-town/country renteres

KenReynolds

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Sep 3, 2007
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I`ve heard all kinds of stories about people trying to rent to scammers that are out of town who contact you via email talking about sending you a bank draft. But has anyone had any positive experience in doing so?

If so, what`s the best way to deal with an out-of-towner as, I suspect, some must be legit.

Thanks, Ken
 

MikeMcCrae

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I would never rent to someone I didn`t meet face to face. You can`t get an idea of what they are like via e-mail.
 

PaulPoulsen

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Sep 23, 2007
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Hi Ken;

I often rent to people whom I`ve never met face-to-face. I do the same background check I would perform on a prospective tenant that already lives here in Edmonton. At a minimum, I want to talk to you on the phone, I want to know where you`re going to be working, I want three-to-five references that I will check, and I want to pull the credit of everyone that`s going to be on the lease. If everything checks out, I have no problem renting from someone I`ve never met in person.

To date I`ve had three such tenants (two guys from St. Paul, Alberta; a fellow from Newfoundland; and a couple from the Maritimes) and I`ve never had an ounce of trouble from any of them.

Now, that said, when I receive an email in broken English that mentions a money order and some exotic local, those are giant red flags and I delete the message.

Hope that answers some questions.
-Paul
 

RobM

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QUOTE (PaulPoulsen @ Oct 9 2007, 03:38 PM) Now, that said, when I receive an email in broken English that mentions a money order and some exotic local, those are giant red flags and I delete the message.


I like to meet all my tenants as well. But I really like to string along the scammers from overseas. I have a couple of form e-mails that I send back, and then on the third one I send a rental application (which contains the credit check disclaimer) and misteriously they stop responding....
style_emoticons


Perhaps I should post a thread with an example of an exchange for everyone to learn from to make sure no one is "taken" by any of these scammers.

Rob
 

miatravel

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Oct 20, 2007
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Yeah, I have a few `vacation properties` for rent on vrbo and I get the lame emails about wanting to pay via money order or cashiers check and a sob story about this being a `present for my son/daughter` in the armed forces. I simply reply and say - great - our policy is that we must wait for the cashiers check or money order to `clear` our bank account (it takes a week or more for that) to ensure it is legit before we can allow booking - and like magic - I never hear from that person again!

Lots of scammers out there including out of country- I once had a person from France call and want to buy one of my houses via a cashiers check - as soon as I said it would have to clear via the bank to confirm funds - buyer never called me back. Suprise suprise!
 

JoeAccardi

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I think it is fine. Look at all the obvious tricks that have been posted above. Make sure the story they are providing is straight and check references a little more thoroughly. Find out why they are moving and explore the reason to assure yourself it is legit.

Saying this however, all else being equal I would prefer the local by quite a bit.
 

askmer

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QUOTE (Joe @ Oct 21 2007, 06:44 PM) I think it is fine. Look at all the obvious tricks that have been posted above. Make sure the story they are providing is straight and check references a little more thoroughly. Find out why they are moving and explore the reason to assure yourself it is legit.

Saying this however, all else being equal I would prefer the local by quite a bit.

Prior to hearing about all this, i ALMOST got sucked in !! I corresponded w/someone from "England" ... they sent a cheque, it looked like it was printed on paper !! Shortly after, they sent me a quick email to say "family member in hospital, could they get a refund" ... the flags went up, did a google search and viola !! SCAM written all over it !!

I always tell someone, 1st come 1st serve, once u are in town, feel free to ring me up...that usually puts a stop to it...you are, after all, investing your time to wait for them while local potential renters are missing out on your great property !!
 
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