Unfortunately, when the economy soured for many during the pandemic, many new scams began trending. One of the most popular scams you have surely heard of by now is when a person pretends to be a landlord and collects rental deposits from unsuspecting tenants looking for a place to rent out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now there is an even more disturbing scam where the tenants pretend to be the owners of a property and collect cash payments from unsuspecting buyers. \u00a0 The news story below is just such an example and cautionary tale for all other landlords reading this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GREECE, NY (WROC) \u2014 Matt Drouin is a landlord and housing owner with 117 properties in the region. He says the COVID-19 pandemic has hit both tenants and land owners hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He says unfortunately, there are still occupants who cannot pay their rent, which he understands. There are some though, he says who are taking it to a new level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s tenants who didn\u2019t pay before COVID, and then when COVID came down, they sort of took advantage of the situation,\u201d says Drouin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of Drouin\u2019s homes on Stonewood Avenue he rents out. He says the tenant has not paid in months, and to Drouin\u2019s surprise, came across an ad on Craigslist listing the property for $45,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI came to find out it was a tenant that was posing as me, the property owner, looking to \u2018sell\u2019 the property and collect cash,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drouin says while this scam is something he\u2019s heard of, this is a first for him. \u201cAnd now they\u2019re using this situation to prey on other people which I think is just absolutely disgusting,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One man says he was shown the property by the renter posing as the owner. Right away, suspicion set in. \u201cWhen I dove deeper into it, I knew something shady as going on, he was trying to collect cash up front. And I was like \u2018that\u2019s not how this stuff works,’\u201d says the man who wished to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lawyer Michael Leess says if the renter did post this ad posing as the owner, that is a fraud charge right off the bat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re on Craigslist and you see a that\u2019s too good to be true, it probably is,\u201d says Leess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n