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Stories like this are why it's illegal in BC to charge application fees ( http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/0207... ). Our tenancy law isn't perfect, but I think this is one of the things we got right.
Landlord here. This tenant made a mistake paying an "administrative fee" of $150, and giving the deposit ($350) without a signed lease. Though, we do charge a $50 application fee to cover the cost of the background check we run. However, if this company is indeed not intending to rent this property and only collecting the application fees, it would be fraud.
> 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?
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 Texas, an ID is required to even view an apartment. Usually, they hold the drivers license at the office while you go view the apartments. It is a state law, and was put in place to prevent rapes.
Stories like this are why it's illegal in BC to charge application fees ( http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/0207... ). Our tenancy law isn't perfect, but I think this is one of the things we got right.
Also in Scotland. Soon to be the case in England & Wales, if the government doesn't blink in the face of outraged letting agents.
[0] http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/buytolet/article-4032280/...
This is standard state of affairs in the UK, I see some agencies in US started to take notice. Basically if you want to rent a property here, an agency will demand that you pay their fee first(last time I paid over 500 pounds just in agency fees), so they can run a full background check on you - so you have to submit proof of your employment, proof of income, history of addresses for past 3 years, bank account detail…
[0] http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/buytolet/article-4032280/...
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?
As a non-American living in Western Europe the idea of a landlord doing a "background check" on prospective tenants is terrifying. Never heard of such a thing in Europe. What the hell does "background check" even entail.
Most European countries have mandatory ID / residence registration so this is handled directly by the state rather than making landlords do it.
(Whether the UK counts as "Europe" is a subject of extreme controversy)
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…
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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.
Are you implying they are doing some kind of instant background check with the ID? If not, what good is checking ID?
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…
Are you saying they forged your signature?
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?
As a non-American living in Western Europe the idea of a landlord doing a "background check" on prospective tenants is terrifying. Never heard of such a thing in Europe. What the hell does "background check" even entail.