Rant about renting! *UPDATE / ADVICE NEEDED PG.3*

[vermeil]

wow... that`s just insane Having to pay fees to apply? What nonesense!!

I sort of have the opposite problem... we scraped for years and finally bought a duplex. In Montreal a modest revenue means buying a condo (yuck) or a duplex and renting. There are few single houses on our little island and they`re crazy expensive.

SO I have to deal with tenants. In Quebec the law is strongly on the side of the tenant. Deposits are illegal. You can only ask for money, the first month`s rent, when they move in. Once they do if they don`t pay, it`s tough to get rid of them. Learned that lesson the hard way - our first tenant said she would live with her daughter only. She had a job etc, her references checked out. Two weeks later... there are 3 adults 8 kids living there (and it`s NOT big!), music full blast 24/7 and of course they`re not paying. The references were fake, neither of the 3 worked. AAARGH nightmare!! We finally got rid of them 3 months later. Had to get a court order and the police involved. We lost 2000$ of rent. Was really stressful on us since we had just spent tons of $ making the place presentable enough to rent, had tons of debt by then and dirt poor. Though I have new tenants now, ones that actually pay the rent, imagine that

Once husband graduates and starts working I hope we can afford to occupy both units - with kids it would be nice to have the extra space! we`ll see.

Good luck with your search!! don`t forget to mention your search to friends, family and coworkers. Most best appartments are found that way.

 

[NeyNey]

Wow that is crazy they charge that kind of money on the off chance you might get the property!!

I agree with the private letting, that sounds much better.

xoxo

 

[LesleyP]

Hi Ladies,

Just need to pick your brains...

I went onto the Gumtree website and posted an ad saying me and OH were looking for a 2 bed property between £350 / £425 pcm. Got an email from someone who said they had a property to let, 2 bed, fully furnished house just up the road from us for £350 pcm plus £300 deposit. Sounds perfect.

Here's the situation: Landlord currently lives in Cambridge due to the fact he has to look after his Mother. The only trouble is, last time someone went to view the property (he had to travel down from Cambridge to Derby) said person ended up screwing him over financially so obviously he wants to be sure we can afford it and that we're geniune people.

I sent him an email explaining we have references, my OH works full time and am willing to give him employers details if he would like to contact them for a reference. I told him I'm not working due to being 6 months pregnant but I have two personal references ready if he would like me to email them to him.

I'm just being paranoid that this house sounds too good to be true - I've never rented privately before and always gone through estate agents. Just wanted to hear your thoughts

Thankyou in advance xx

 

[lauraperrysan]

tbh you'll never know if you dont have a look, also if you dont like it then dont say yes to it....it's not your fault he has to travel so far, maybe he should leave a key with someone nearer so he doesn't have to come back. Defo have a look at it....
Also Im in the same position as you at the mo, just paid agents fee's today for a property we are applying to rent but if the references come back bad or not up to standard then we have lost £210.00!! eeekkkk..... Good luck tho.
Must say that you wouldn't even get a bed sit where I am for that money, thats so so cheap compared to here....jelous lol xxxx

 

[Martine31]

I rent privately and my landlords are angels. That said any meeting between you and the landlord should be a two way street- you interview him too! Will he do repairs as they arise, and you want a legally binding lease.

Good luck! X

 

[babybel]

We rent through an agent and paid all the fees but they were worth it when it came to the end of the tenancy and we wanted our deposit back. Landlord came up with all sorts of stuff but as deposit is held by tenancy agents he didnt just get to keep the money, he had to argue his cause with them and they made final decision in which we got deposit back in full. In our case we paid about £200 fees but deposit was £1800 and so if he had had it directly he could of kept all of it. On other hand my mum rents privately and has never had any trouble from the landlords getting deposit back.

xx

 

[SazzleB]

Hey hun,

I found my house through a Gumtree ad I placed 2 years ago. However, before I found this house about 5 'landlords' replied to my ad with the perfect house. They had all been screwed over before and wanted us to prove that we could afford the house, deposit etc. So their idea was for us to transfer the deposit in to a kind of 'holding' account, through western union etc, so we could prove we could afford it. They all reassured us that they could not withdraw the money and just needed to see a receipt. I phoned Western Union and apparently this is a well known scam ... with details from the receipt they can withdraw the money.
So, if the 'landlord's' next step is to email and ask for proof like this then report his email address to Gumtree, its a scam. Any genuine landlord will be more than happy with references and maybe a look at a bank statement.
HTH
xx

 

[JASMAK]

tbh you'll never know if you dont have a look, also if you dont like it then dont say yes to it....it's not your fault he has to travel so far, maybe he should leave a key with someone nearer so he doesn't have to come back. Defo have a look at it....
Also Im in the same position as you at the mo, just paid agents fee's today for a property we are applying to rent but if the references come back bad or not up to standard then we have lost £210.00!! eeekkkk..... Good luck tho.
Must say that you wouldn't even get a bed sit where I am for that money, thats so so cheap compared to here....jelous lol xxxx

I agree with this.

 

[lauraperrysan]

Hey hun,

I found my house through a Gumtree ad I placed 2 years ago. However, before I found this house about 5 'landlords' replied to my ad with the perfect house. They had all been screwed over before and wanted us to prove that we could afford the house, deposit etc. So their idea was for us to transfer the deposit in to a kind of 'holding' account, through western union etc, so we could prove we could afford it. They all reassured us that they could not withdraw the money and just needed to see a receipt. I phoned Western Union and apparently this is a well known scam ... with details from the receipt they can withdraw the money.
So, if the 'landlord's' next step is to email and ask for proof like this then report his email address to Gumtree, its a scam. Any genuine landlord will be more than happy with references and maybe a look at a bank statement.
HTH
xx

yea i've heard of this alot too, thats one thing you get with an agent and thats covering ur ass and the landlords, u might have to pay fees but at least u got a guarantee they are genuine xxx

 

[stephx]

I would say... Gumtree is great, but there are sooo many scams on there. Please dont send any documents or details or money to a 'landlord' if you havent met them. If he really wants to rent the place, then he will have to travel to come and sort it out face to face.

Ive contacted so many of them with stories like that, not wanting to travel for whatever reason- they usually end with them wanting me to send a 'holding fee' via western union so obviously scams

Not saying yours definatly is, but please be careful hun

xx

 

[LesleyP]

Hey hun,

I found my house through a Gumtree ad I placed 2 years ago. However, before I found this house about 5 'landlords' replied to my ad with the perfect house. They had all been screwed over before and wanted us to prove that we could afford the house, deposit etc. So their idea was for us to transfer the deposit in to a kind of 'holding' account, through western union etc, so we could prove we could afford it. They all reassured us that they could not withdraw the money and just needed to see a receipt. I phoned Western Union and apparently this is a well known scam ... with details from the receipt they can withdraw the money.
So, if the 'landlord's' next step is to email and ask for proof like this then report his email address to Gumtree, its a scam. Any genuine landlord will be more than happy with references and maybe a look at a bank statement.
HTH
xx

Funnily enough, we've just received an email stating exactly that! As soon as I read it I knew it was dodgy... Here's what he said:

Dear CLAIR, (NOT EVEN MY NAME!!!??)

Thanks for your mail.I am willing to let my property to you and i must clarify that it is a decent and nicely decorated property and you are free to re decorate it to your taste.I can draw up a contract and you have to send me half of the refundable security deposit (150 pounds ) to me to secure the place and i can email you a rental agreement and meet you up on a fixed date for move in.Please send the 150 pounds to me immediately by western union money transfer to my details below.

NAME--PAUL PRINCE

ADDRESS- 44 MALCOLM PLACE, CAMBRIDGE, CAMBRIDGESHIRE, CB1 1LS

Email me the code to pick the money and as soon i as i get the money In Cambridge,i will call you and fix a date to meet for move in or viewing.Let me know if this is ok with you so that i can reserve the place for you.Attached is my passport for identification and as as soon as you send me the deposit by western union money transfer,i will send you an invoice and contract.

Obviously we're NOT sending him any money - but have emailed him, saying that we're happy enough to send references / proof of income - but like him we need to cover our backs and therefore will not be sending any funds until we've at least viewed the property and the contract. We also asked for the property number so we can go see it, and possibly ask a couple of the neighbours if they know this person.

I will definitely keep you all updated on the situation, I knew it was too good to be true - just glad I still have *some* common sense left in me during my pregnancy lol!

 

[SazzleB]

Grr those people make me so angry!
I wish there was something more that could be done bout them. They don't even have houses to let and uses images that they have obviously googled.
Good luck with your house hunt and glad you weren't scammed!
xx

 

[LesleyP]

Thanks! I just feel sorry for the poor people who DO fall for these scams, these b*stards are so clever these days and can make anything seem so genuine. I guess despite my rant about estate agents, there is a good side to using them!

 

[gemma55250]

Hi, I rent a house out. ALL landlords have to register the property and their details with the local council even if they let it out privately and not for DSS etc. Give the council a call and ask them. I was away at the time and my mum showed the people who rent my house around. I asked them to contact the council so they could verify who I was. Hope this helps xx

 

[lauraperrysan]

im so glad u know it's a scam now tho, tbh who would ever part with £150 over the internet to someone who you dont know and havn't met, plus how can he take money if you havn't even seen the property to want to move in. I can see why people fall for this type of scam, I probably would if I didn't know about it already.....how satisifying to know you have one over him and know he's just a con man
maybe an agent isn't such a bad thing after all xxxx

 

[NeyNey]

Gumtree is well known for it's scams, so be careful hun. If a landlord really wants to rent a property, he will not ask for money before you even see it. Good luck.

 

[LesleyP]

Cheers ladies, I think we'll be sticking with the estate agents - even though it's going to cost a bomb, at least we know everything's legit. xx

 

[lauraperrysan]

Cheers ladies, I think we'll be sticking with the estate agents - even though it's going to cost a bomb, at least we know everything's legit. xx

good choice xxx

 

[Babyshambelle]

Hi hun, just read your initital post and your update. We are in exactly the same situation at the moment with renting, and I totally understand your frustration and annoyance, especially as we too wanted to be out of this place in time for spud the second to be born.

I just hate that the whole thing becomes a cash race if you like somewhere, and they just don't care about you presonal situation one bit.

Just wanted to share a bit of experience I have had with a gumtree scammer where we were sort of on the other end of it. It's worth reading to see just how sneaky they can be.

We were in a flat in London and we wanted to get out of it before the Liv was born, so the letting agent said we could break our 12 month contract if we advertised it ourselves and did the viewings ourself (very normal in London btw!!) so we agreed to this. We put the flat on gumtree with pics, description etc and we had a lot of interest. Because we appeared to be private landlords, we were also contacted by this one 'company' who casually said to us they were working for a businessman who was looking for residence in the area and could they come and collect the keys to show him round. This made me suspicious straight away, but then having done a bit of research we knew that these sort of companies exist in london. We were never going to give them a set of keys , but we agreed that he could show his client round as long as we were present. Anyway, in the mean time we googled this guys number and after a bit of digging round the internet we found that the company was totally dodgey, and our flat was being advertised on their website which looked official enough and they appeared to be letting agents. They were just advertising it at slightly below the value of an average property in the area....enough to hook people in completely. We never got as far as to let them in, but the scam is that they show people round the flat as if they are the managing agents, they take their deposits off them, their agents fees and first months rent (this could all total up to 2k + in London, plus they have their bank and personal details), give them a move in date etc etc and by the time the new 'tenants' have arrived on their move in day with their stuff, the place still belongs to us or someone else, and the lettings agency have disappeared without a trace.

It's for this reason only that I would never ever believe anything that is said on gumtree, and you even need to be SO careful with how you choose your letting agents too. I'm pretty sure rightmove and findaproperty are sites that check over these letting agencies before letting them advertise there.

Hope that helps at least someone xxx

 

[LesleyP]

Hi hun, just read your initital post and your update. We are in exactly the same situation at the moment with renting, and I totally understand your frustration and annoyance, especially as we too wanted to be out of this place in time for spud the second to be born.

I just hate that the whole thing becomes a cash race if you like somewhere, and they just don't care about you presonal situation one bit.

Just wanted to share a bit of experience I have had with a gumtree scammer where we were sort of on the other end of it. It's worth reading to see just how sneaky they can be.

We were in a flat in London and we wanted to get out of it before the Liv was born, so the letting agent said we could break our 12 month contract if we advertised it ourselves and did the viewings ourself (very normal in London btw!!) so we agreed to this. We put the flat on gumtree with pics, description etc and we had a lot of interest. Because we appeared to be private landlords, we were also contacted by this one 'company' who casually said to us they were working for a businessman who was looking for residence in the area and could they come and collect the keys to show him round. This made me suspicious straight away, but then having done a bit of research we knew that these sort of companies exist in london. We were never going to give them a set of keys , but we agreed that he could show his client round as long as we were present. Anyway, in the mean time we googled this guys number and after a bit of digging round the internet we found that the company was totally dodgey, and our flat was being advertised on their website which looked official enough and they appeared to be letting agents. They were just advertising it at slightly below the value of an average property in the area....enough to hook people in completely. We never got as far as to let them in, but the scam is that they show people round the flat as if they are the managing agents, they take their deposits off them, their agents fees and first months rent (this could all total up to 2k + in London, plus they have their bank and personal details), give them a move in date etc etc and by the time the new 'tenants' have arrived on their move in day with their stuff, the place still belongs to us or someone else, and the lettings agency have disappeared without a trace.

It's for this reason only that I would never ever believe anything that is said on gumtree, and you even need to be SO careful with how you choose your letting agents too. I'm pretty sure rightmove and findaproperty are sites that check over these letting agencies before letting them advertise there.

Hope that helps at least someone xxx

Bloody hell! It's horrible, what a world we live in eh?