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How I legally got scammed for $250 by an upscale apartment complex

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Re: How I legally got scammed for $250 by an upscale apartment complex

#41

Post by swang »

win_ini wrote: post #36
felipemnoa wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdote here: Once when I wanted to rent an apartment in a nice apartment complex they wouldn't even show me the apartment without me showing them my ID. I ended up renting the place and never had a problem.

In California - it's the Law. You need to provide picture ID before the property management company can you show you around the property. At least that's what the little sign in each leasing office I've visited said.... (????)

Huh? Is this a viewing or something else?

I have rented apartments and looked at housing in several places in CA, not once has anyone asked me for my ID. Only when it got down to the serious brass tacks was that required.

Re: How I legally got scammed for $250 by an upscale apartment complex

#42

Post by toomuchtodo »

chrisper wrote: post #40
ransom1538 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even disputing a charge on the credit card — they have copies of our ID, smart. Your credit card company will charge back that charge. AND they will make a note on the merchant's account. More than likely, when you call regarding this merchant account it will already have notes on it -- just making it even quicker. Once, I paid 2k for a couch on Macys.com. Their delivery guys came to deliver the couch on the agreed…

So what will you do if it goes to a debt collector?

Ask them to verify the debt.

https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/collections#wi...

Re: How I legally got scammed for $250 by an upscale apartment complex

#43

Post by stale2002 »

chrisper wrote: post #40
ransom1538 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even disputing a charge on the credit card — they have copies of our ID, smart. Your credit card company will charge back that charge. AND they will make a note on the merchant's account. More than likely, when you call regarding this merchant account it will already have notes on it -- just making it even quicker. Once, I paid 2k for a couch on Macys.com. Their delivery guys came to deliver the couch on the agreed…

So what will you do if it goes to a debt collector?

I could go to a debt collector right now and tell them that you own me money.

But if I do this to though people, I'll go to jail.

Re: How I legally got scammed for $250 by an upscale apartment complex

#44

Post by ben1040 »

akira2501 wrote: post #33
wyldfire wrote: post #6

If this happens to you, you should consider talking to: 1. Your state's AG [1] 2. The local TV news 3. Local police I don't think I would call it a "legal scam," it sounds remarkably like fraud. Lots of modern fraud takes place over international VoIP calls, so the fact that there's a brick and mortar business with assets that can be seized means you shouldn't give up quickly. > Even disputing a charge on the credit…

4. Go to your state legislature and try to get a bill passed. What surprises me is that CoreLogic is not bound by the same terms that any other credit reporting bureau is. There is no way any business is going to just write you a letter stating that you currently owe no money, not without talking to a lawyer first, I'd hope. If they want to impugn your credit with with this type of reporting, then it's their responsi…

CoreLogic claims they FCRA doesn't apply to them, because they apparently are a "wholesale" data warehouse that sells data to companies that do background checks, but a federal judge disagreed:

http://www.reuters.com/article/employment-corelogic-idUSL2N1...

Re: How I legally got scammed for $250 by an upscale apartment complex

#45

Post by hartator »

I don't get why the property got so much flak. Okay, management seems bad and communication seems to suck. However, background checks cost $50 each. So, it's already $100, putting their profit to $150 for locking one appartement for you for a few days. If you fail the background checks, it's your issue not there. And maybe we just need a better system for background checks. Surely.

Re: How I legally got scammed for $250 by an upscale apartment complex

#46

Post by djrogers »

tradersam wrote: post #22
yaacovtp wrote: post #19

I've used Corelogic as a landlord as well. Any applicant with a reported history of non payment is a big red flag and would likely be denied. I'd compare it to very late credit card payments or a charge off. Not a scam. The employee doing the review would get in trouble for approving this application!

> Any applicant with a reported history of non payment is a big red flag and would likely be denied. Directly from the article: > My application was denied due to their system show that some management company filed missing rent in 2011. Which is not true I have zero collections or public records. The point is they were lying.

Or the data was wrong.

Re: How I legally got scammed for $250 by an upscale apartment complex

#47

Post by empath75 »

tradersam wrote: post #22
yaacovtp wrote: post #19

I've used Corelogic as a landlord as well. Any applicant with a reported history of non payment is a big red flag and would likely be denied. I'd compare it to very late credit card payments or a charge off. Not a scam. The employee doing the review would get in trouble for approving this application!

> Any applicant with a reported history of non payment is a big red flag and would likely be denied. Directly from the article: > My application was denied due to their system show that some management company filed missing rent in 2011. Which is not true I have zero collections or public records. The point is they were lying.

They can request a copy of the report.

Re: How I legally got scammed for $250 by an upscale apartment complex

#48

Post by rbcgerard »

ploxiln wrote: post #15

Maybe you've never attempted to rent an apartment in NYC. They typically require * scanned ID * recent bank statements * recent pay stubs * recent tax return or W2 * letter of employment on official company letterhead * company office number they can call to confirm employment * last two addresses you lived at * letter from previous landlord * yearly salary at least 40x (sometimes 50x) monthly rent * ~ $100 applicati…

It's pretty easy to evict a tenant in Texas, whereas its next to impossible in New York, which seems to have the perverse incentive of making it really hard for people to rent

Re: How I legally got scammed for $250 by an upscale apartment complex

#49

Post by downandout »

ben1040 wrote: post #44
akira2501 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

4. Go to your state legislature and try to get a bill passed. What surprises me is that CoreLogic is not bound by the same terms that any other credit reporting bureau is. There is no way any business is going to just write you a letter stating that you currently owe no money, not without talking to a lawyer first, I'd hope. If they want to impugn your credit with with this type of reporting, then it's their responsi…

CoreLogic claims they FCRA doesn't apply to them, because they apparently are a "wholesale" data warehouse that sells data to companies that do background checks, but a federal judge disagreed: http://www.reuters.com/article/employment-corelogic-idUSL2N1...

There is another major database called Early Warning [1] that also claims to be exempt from certain parts of the FCRA. I was an identity theft victim. After blocking credit checks at all 3 major bureaus and ChexSystems, I contacted these guys and asked them to block any reports they have on me. They essentially said that they don't have to, and won't, despite legislation allowing consumers to request freezing of credit files. I eventually got a nasty voicemail basically inviting me to sue them if I didn't like it.

These specialty databases need serious regulation...it's clear that credit bureaus and those that use them are tired of working within the confines of the FCRA and are going out of their way to create databases that are exempt.

[1] http://earlywarning.com/

Re: How I legally got scammed for $250 by an upscale apartment complex

#50

Post by ufmace »

felipemnoa wrote: post #34
fwefwwfe wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then they made a photocopy of our ID for a file. Which again raised my suspicion, I’ve rented many apartment before and none of properties ever asked for that before signing the lease That sounds like a red flag with the article/author. What apartment place wouldn't do a background check and want ID to make sure they go the right person?

Anecdote here: Once when I wanted to rent an apartment in a nice apartment complex they wouldn't even show me the apartment without me showing them my ID. I ended up renting the place and never had a problem.

That's pretty standard in most places AFAIK. Think about it - apartment salespeople are mostly women. Potential tenants are at least half men. When you walk in off the street to look at an apartment, they don't know you from Adam. And you're going into an empty apartment alone with a female salesperson. Do the math, they're gonna want some ID first.
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