Scam with renting an apartment. The main fraudulent schemes in rental housing. Multiple renting of apartments

Today we will talk about how to rent an apartment and not become a victim of scammers, do not run into some kind of divorce or deception, which currently abound in this area. In this article, I will break down a few of the most common scams and scams associated with renting out a home. It is not so difficult to find out about them: they write a lot about this on various forums, in other blogs, information about scammers spreads quite quickly.

Nevertheless, new tenants continue to fall for their tricks, because they do not know or do not want to know how to rent an apartment correctly. I recommend that you carefully read the fraud options outlined below, so as not to become a victim of scammers when renting an apartment.

Methods of fraud and deceit when renting apartments.

Method 1. Other people's photos of the apartment. You are looking for where to rent an apartment on the Internet, and you find an ad with very impressive photographs of the interior of a rented home, combined with a very affordable and interesting price. You happily contact the owner or realtor, but they tell you that this apartment is allegedly already rented out, but there are others similar, and they offer you to look at them, often they ask you to pay some kind of advance payment.

What to do? If the price / interior combination seems somewhat suspicious to you, and in other cases too, check the exhibited photos of the apartment for uniqueness. It is completely easy to do this - there are special services on the Internet for this. For example, one of these is Google Images. Just insert the link to the photo into the search box, or save the photo to your computer, and then upload it to the service, and it will show you all the available analogues of this picture on the Internet. And when you notice that “one and the same” apartment is rented in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev and other cities, I think it should be clear to you that they want, at least, to attract you by fraudulent means, and most likely - to divorce you into some any "prepayment". Therefore, I strongly do not recommend applying for such ads.

Method 2. Non-existent apartments. In fact, the same method, only there may not be a photo at all, and the apartment itself also. Fraudsters advertise housing, as a rule, attracting a good price, and then, when you contact them, there are two possible scenarios.

In the first case (this is the best option), you just light up your number / e-mail and realtors will start calling / writing you, offering other options for renting apartments, respectively, already more expensive and less interesting. Well, for this non-existent apartment they will simply say that it has already been rented out.

In the second case (this is the worst option), they will try to fraudulently receive any advance payment from you, after which they will disappear.

Perhaps this is the most common variant of divorce, deception and fraud when renting apartments.

What to do? As soon as you were told that the apartment you are interested in has already been rented out, but at the same time they may offer other options, immediately be on your guard. And never, never never do not make any prepayments either for the services of realtors, or for renting an apartment, until you have actually agreed with the owner and signed a lease with him.

Method 3. Multiple renting of the same apartment.

Thinking about how to rent an apartment, do not forget about this very unpleasant method of fraud, which, unfortunately, also takes place, albeit not as often as the previous one. What is its essence? The fact that the owner of the apartment in various clever ways rents the same housing to different people, receiving an advance payment from them. And they have to somehow divide it among themselves, and find out who will live, and who will just have to say goodbye to money.

How does this happen? Well, for example, you rented an apartment: the owner personally took you, showed you everything, gave the keys and took an advance payment for 2-3 months. You check in in the morning, and in the evening another person opens the doors with the same key, who moved here with things - he looked at this apartment and made an advance payment yesterday. And the next day - another family .. (if the owner is so lucky that he managed to pull off his business with as many as three lodgers).

In this case, if you do not have a lease agreement in your hands, and the fact of making an advance payment is not recorded in any way, you will not prove anything to anyone. After all, even if you go to the police and they find the owner, he will say that you invented it all. Or maybe the “owner” is another tenant who rented an apartment himself for a week and rented it to several other people for a year. And this happens, and often ...

What to do? Make payment / prepayment only after signing a lease agreement with the real owner of the apartment. When signing, it is imperative to check the documents for ownership, all passport details of the owner, check them with those specified in the contract. The fact of transfer of money should be recorded, at least, with a receipt, or better - with bank documents on non-cash crediting of funds according to the details specified in the contract.

Method 4. An agreement with a fake agency. And the last way to divorce when renting an apartment, which I want to consider, is to sign an agreement with non-existent realtors.

The scheme works like this: fraudsters rent some kind of small office, advertise profitable renting of apartments, come to them who want to rent an apartment, they conclude contracts with everyone on their own behalf and take an advance payment for 1-2-3 months. At the same time, they show you a photo of the apartment, but they warn you that you will be able to move in, say, in a week, when the housing will be vacated by the previous tenants. Perhaps you are even given the keys to the apartment to be sure. But when you arrive at the specified address at the appointed time, it turns out that no one is renting anything there. And when you return to the agency to arrange a showdown, it turns out that he is no longer there.

What to do? Conclude a lease only directly with the owner of the apartment, who will provide you with his passport and all documents confirming the ownership of the property. No intermediaries, especially those who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They can just as suddenly disappear into nowhere ...

Now I want to list some common signs of a rental advertisement that can help determine that you are dealing with scammers (not 100%, of course, but with a high degree of probability):

• The contact phone number contains letters similar to numbers (for example, the letter Z instead of the number 3, the letter O instead of the number 0, etc. - look carefully), or the phone, or even the entire ad, is indicated in the form of a picture, not text. Almost 100% fraudulent. This is done so that the number / data cannot be copied and “punched” by blacklists;
• The announcement states that the owner is abroad / in another city and will receive payment / prepayment;
• They are looking for “good people who look after the apartment” for a nominal fee;
• For rent one room in the apartment, and the second / third is “closed with things”;
• Offer “help with registration”;
• Perfectly done and edited for a glossy magazine professional rental photos;
• Other “very friendly” tenants already live in the apartment;
• It is emphasized that they are looking for a “decent family”, “strictly nondrinker” or something similar (think for yourself, which owner would rent his apartment to dishonest people or alcoholics?);
• It is proposed to make a certain deposit / prepayment before the conclusion of the lease agreement;
• It is indicated that housing is rented "urgently".

And in conclusion, one more useful advice that will be needed by all those who do not know how to rent an apartment without cheating and divorce: be sure to fill in the search engine with the address of the apartment, the name of the owner or realtor, their contact phone numbers / e-mails, and check if “ lit up "whether they are in any black lists. There are already a lot of all kinds of blacklists of landlords on the Internet, and it is much better if you find your landlord there in advance than you will enter it yourself later, losing money and time.

Now you have some idea of ​​how to rent an apartment and not run into scammers. Be careful and vigilant: some risks will always remain, but it is in your power to reduce them significantly! Remember this ...

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A large number of residential premises are rented out, especially in large cities. At the same time, you need to keep in mind what rules to follow in order not to get caught by scammers when renting an apartment. Various types of fraud operate in the vastness of our country, in Moscow, Novgorod, as well as in other states - Ukraine, Spain and others.

In order to recognize fraud when renting, you need to know the traits that a real estate agency has, acting in good faith:

the company's office should not be located in a slum and not consist of one or a couple of small rooms;

the location of the office should be in the business district of the settlement;

payment for the agent's services is calculated as a percentage of the cost of housing (this suggests that the price for the service cannot be equal for those who are looking for an apartment in a new building and a bed in a dormitory area);

the contract has clear clauses, one of which indicates the provision of services related to the search for real estate;

settlement with the agent occurs after the specified services have been provided (when the landlord and tenant have signed an agreement);

advance payment is not taken by the agency.

If, when you rent an apartment, it seems to you that a scam is happening, then it is best to abandon the deal and save money. . Otherwise, you risk being left without money and housing.

There are many types of schemes used by swindlers. Despite the fact that this topic is constantly covered in the media, people still fall for the well-known tricks of scammers. Not only people who are looking for housing, but also the owners of apartments for rent can become deceived. You can recognize deception if you know the most commonly used schemes:

Clandestine sublease. This type of fraud is often used in big cities. The victims are the owners of the apartments, who carry out the unofficial rent. The agreement is concluded in the form of an agreement - verbally, the owner believes that the housing is being rented to the very person with whom he agreed. The tenant, in turn, rents a room in an apartment or a sleeping place for a day, while the contract is also not concluded. As a result of this use of living quarters, there is a deplorable state of furniture and equipment, but there is no one to demand compensation from, since there are no official papers.

Repairs carried out against rental payments. The tenants are trying to deceive, who insist on making repairs, arguing that they do not want to live in such conditions. The homeowner understands that he will first need to repair the apartment himself and then find new guests, agrees to such conditions. Then for several months he does not receive or receives a small rent, but he does not see the results of the repair. As a result, you have to evict tenants and put up with losses.

The documents of title are in the hands of malefactors. Older owners are trying to cheat with the help of a similar scheme. The tenant asks to give him the documentation for the apartment, giving arguments that at work it is necessary to confirm the fact of renting or other reason. After the seizure of the papers, an urgent sale of housing takes place.

Sale of an apartment that has been leased. This type implies that the landlord requires the payment of rent several months in advance, but does not mean that the apartment is for sale. After a while, new owners appear who ask to leave the premises.

The transaction is made with a person who is not the owner of the home. The swindler informs that the apartment belongs to his relative, who has gone abroad and is temporarily unable to submit documents of title.

Silence about the fact that other registered persons may live in the apartment. One day the tenant finds a man at the door who says that he will live with him.

Eviction for far-fetched reasons. In this case, the fraudster will act in such a way that, first, money will be taken from the tenant several months in advance, after which reasons for eviction are invented.

Change of locks. You can rent an apartment from the owner, who gives the keys and asks not to call in for a couple of days, so that he has time to put things in order. However, during this time, the locks are changed, and the tenant, having arrived to move in, cannot get into the premises.

You can avoid fraudulent activities if you follow certain rules:

drawing up a contract is a prerequisite for concluding a transaction;

a low rental price should always be alarming;

time for reflection after viewing the apartment should be at least 1 day, during this time you can talk with neighbors, find out if the person is the owner and rents out housing;

payment for several months in advance should be avoided;

the house book can be asked to be presented in the presence of a realtor and make sure how many people are registered in the apartment;

apartment documentation (neither copies nor originals) should not be transferred to third parties, otherwise you can fall for the bait of swindlers

Important! A properly concluded contract will help not only tenants, but also homeowners not to fall for the tricks of scammers.

Real estate is an expensive pleasure. For this reason, many do not live in their own, but in a rented apartment. This market is large enough that, like in any other business, there are scammers here. Danger can await in Moscow and St. Petersburg and in provincial cities - there is no difference.

Consider what you need to pay attention to so as not to fall for the bait of a fraudster when renting or renting your property.

The most common fraud schemes

Before contacting the rental market, both tenants and landlords need to familiarize themselves with the most common schemes used by scammers. Of course, such knowledge will allow you to timely calculate an unscrupulous counterparty and prevent undesirable consequences.

Fraud when renting an apartment (risks of the owner of the apartment)

Apartment owners are more often caught by scammers. So, it is quite difficult to find decent and conscientious tenants. For this reason, owners try to thoroughly check their tenants before letting them into their apartment.

However, knowing the main methods of scam when renting an apartment on the part of tenants, you can prevent unwanted consequences and losses:

1. Very often, tenants sublet their rented housing. They must coordinate such actions with the owner. However, owners are often unaware of this unless they are told by their neighbors. In such cases, a decent dwelling at the beginning turns into a hostel, a brothel, etc. The tenants receive their profits, and the owner has no choice but to accept the damage caused to the property.
2. Apartment renovation on account of rent payment. This is the method used by most tenants. The bottom line is that they insist on carrying out repairs at their own expense, pointing out the impossibility of living in the current conditions. The tenants' expenses are covered by the future rental value. The owner agrees, but as a result, the tenants do not make repairs and do not pay for housing.
3. Requesting documents certifying the right of ownership. Fraudsters rent an apartment and, under various pretexts, require the submission of documents for the real estate, and after receiving them, they carry out illegal actions with them, for example, draw up a fake deed of gift on behalf of the owner for the purpose of further sale. Such actions are a clear example of fraud, which can only be challenged after the issue of criminal liability has been resolved.

Despite the fact that there are many more fraudulent schemes for renting apartments, most often it is the tenants who become the victims of fraud.

Let's consider what methods the owners are trying to deceive their tenants with.

Apartment rent fraud (when you rent it)

Apartment owners very often deceive their tenants in order to squeeze the maximum benefit from the delivery of their real estate.

So, the most common methods of scam with renting apartments are the following:

1. Renting out of housing which is at the stage of sale. As a rule, for long-term rental housing, payment is made in advance, at least two months. Tenants pay for these months, and after a couple of weeks a new homeowner appears on their doorstep. In this case, tenants are completely out of work. This rod is the favorite means of deceivers.
2. Leasing by a non-owner. When a lease is signed by a person who has title to the rental unit, it will be invalidated. That is, the real owner can come at any time and demand an eviction. In this case, tenants cannot demand or dispute anything, it is useless to continue disputes. All that remains is to go to the police.
3. Eviction for unknown reasons. Many landlords insist on eviction of tenants without refund for invented reasons. Most often, they cite the neighbors downstairs as the reason, which the tenants have allegedly caused damage, etc. It is very easy to become a victim of such a scammer, the main thing is not to succumb to threats and persuasion.

Most often, landlords change the locks in the apartment so that tenants cannot get there. As a result, a struggle begins between them, where the owner of the home most often wins.

Cheating real estate agencies

Unfortunately, not only left-wing players in the rental housing market can be scammers, but also professional real estate agencies. Renting is a good way for them to make ongoing profit, but not always in an honest way.

Consider several options for fraud on the part of such agencies:

1. SMS cheating. This is perhaps the most common way to cheat customers. So, after registering on the agency's online portal, an SMS is sent to the person on the phone with a request to respond in order to gain access to the agency's database of information and other opportunities. As a result, money is withdrawn from the phone, but the client does not receive any base.
2. Informative base. When tenants turn to realtors, they offer to buy a list of rented apartments from them, and at a reduced price. Of course, the list is given only after full payment has been made. And in the end, either the list turns out to be fake, or the rental price according to the list is greatly underestimated.

Be that as it may, realtors manage to legalize their fraudulent actions, so it is very difficult to dig into them. For this reason, most citizens simply do not want to contact them and prefer to act independently.

Mortgage rent

The essence of a mortgage lease is to rent out an apartment, which is pledged. The main condition for the legality of such a transaction is the consent of the bank. If there is no such document, then the mortgaged housing cannot be rented out.

The fraudster in this case, as a rule, is the borrower. The victims are:

• tenant - the bank can evict him at any time;
• bank - the interest rate of a commercial mortgage is much higher.

Banks regard such actions of borrowers as commercial. So if he finds out about the fact of renting out a mortgage home, you can be sure that you cannot do without consequences.

So before renting an apartment, you must at least once familiarize yourself with all the documents for it.

Power of attorney rent

Many owners give their apartments by power of attorney to third parties, in most cases - to real estate agencies. It is more convenient for owners to receive income without their own expenses and hassle.

However, in this case, the following undesirable consequences for rental participants are possible:

• if the owner revokes the power of attorney, tenants may be evicted, depending on the terms of the power of attorney;
• a trusted person can use his powers to the detriment of the owner of the apartment.

Thus, you should not issue a power of attorney for the right to dispose of your home for third parties.

Even when entering into an agreement with real estate agencies, you must carefully read each paragraph.

How to recognize deception and protect yourself

The main signs of fraudulent schemes are favorable rental conditions. This is a basic trick and scammers do their best to get the attention of the victim. So you cannot be tempted by the profitability of the deal, but it is better to check everything yourself carefully and, if you suspect, refuse to cooperate.

So, the main ways not to get caught by scammers when renting an apartment are the following methods:

1. Drawing up a competent agreement. The contract is a guarantee for both the lessee and the lessor. To avoid further problems, all conditions must be included in it. It is best to draw up such a contract under the supervision of an experienced lawyer. It will be a little expensive, but the parties will be confident in the future.
2. Refusal from prepayment. Conscientious landlords usually require an advance payment of no more than two months. Some insist on bail. You should not agree to such conditions, as this is a clear sign of deception.
3. Verification of registered persons. It is necessary to familiarize yourself with the list of persons registered in the corresponding dwelling. If there are many of them, then it is better to refuse to rent, since at any time one of them may demand his right to live in this dwelling.
4. Preservation of original documents. In no case should you give a document of title to real estate to anyone. The requirement for such documents is the main sign that you are facing a fraudster.

Thus, attentiveness and caution are the main assistants in this matter. So do not neglect them. It is better to control everything yourself, than then to disentangle the consequences of property negligence.

Responsibility for fraud

To date, law enforcement agencies receive many statements about fraudulent actions by participants in the real estate market. However, not in all cases people really fall prey to scammers. Many statements come due to the illiteracy of the people themselves, who cannot distinguish between force majeure and fraud.

So that the actions of persons can be regarded as fraud, it is necessary that they fall under the following criteria:

• actions should be aimed at deceiving when renting an apartment;
• the deception must be aimed at obtaining money.

In turn, fraud when renting an apartment is a criminal offense, and the punishment is very different.

So, depending on the amount of damage caused to persons, the following measures can be applied against fraudsters:

• a criminal fine;
• arrest;
• correctional labor;
• deprivation of liberty.

At the same time, combined punishment options can be applied to persons. Thus, the court can impose a fine at the same time as imprisonment or correctional labor.

For this reason, not all are resolved on fraudulent actions, because in some cases individuals can be imprisoned for up to 10 years.

Have you found a wonderful apartment, signed a lease, deposited money, received the keys and think you can sleep peacefully? No matter how it is. Home rental is one of the most common transactions in the real estate market. And an unpaved field for scammers of all stripes. Dishonest apartment owners, black realtors, and enterprising swindlers show enviable ingenuity in deceiving gullible tenants. They have dozens of different schemes in their arsenal: from unprovable "everyday misunderstandings" to real criminal actions. The higher the legal literacy of the population, the more cunning the deceivers. An educational program will help to rent an apartment without adventures and financial losses. GdeEtotDom.RU analyzed some common rental fraud methods.

Have you found a wonderful apartment, signed a lease, deposited money, received the keys and think you can sleep peacefully? No matter how it is. Housing rent is one of the most common. And an unpaved field for scammers of all stripes. Dishonest apartment owners, black realtors, and enterprising swindlers show enviable ingenuity in deceiving gullible tenants. They have dozens of different schemes in their arsenal: from unprovable "everyday misunderstandings" to real criminal actions. The higher the legal literacy of the population, the more cunning the deceivers. An educational program will help to rent an apartment without adventures and financial losses. GdeEtotDom.RU analyzed some common rental fraud methods.

Selling information - "cheap cheese" for tenants

One of the most widespread types of fraud in the housing market is the sale of information from allegedly closed real estate databases. Clients buy into the offer of cheap real estate services, but in the end they simply lose money. Such fraud can be virtual and real.

• SMS - mailings

A person is looking for housing for rent via the Internet, to communicate with realtors or landlords leaves their contact information on specialized sites or forums. After that, he receives an e-mail or SMS with a proposal to get access to the most attractive real estate options exactly according to his request. To do this, you just need to send a message to the number of the scammers. Naturally, SMS turns out to be paid, and in return the gullible citizen does not receive any "exclusive" information.

• Real estate information "agencies"

Fraudsters rent an office and pretend to be a real estate company. They offer citizens the services of intermediaries - they provide the addresses of apartments for a moderate fee. In this case, the amount is said to be about half the standard fee of a real estate agent. The savings are due to the fact that the agency employee does not go to see and deal.

The client comes to the office, concludes a contract for services and receives a list of addresses and phone numbers. Usually, to divert their eyes, scammers immediately agree to view one of the apartments. A joyful tenant pays off the "realtors" and signs a paper that the obligations to him have been fulfilled.

When a person arrives at the place, it turns out that the housing has already been rented out or the price is significantly higher than the one indicated in the agency. The situation is repeated at other addresses in the list. At the same time, it is almost impossible to make claims to fraudsters: such an "agency" provides only an information service and is not responsible for the success of the transaction.

Don't forget the adage about where free cheese is. Professional realtors do not take money for their work in vain - they guarantee the security of the transaction at all stages: from searching for housing to concluding a contract and transferring money. Plus, honest agents don't take money up front. Payment for the services of a realtor for a transaction always occurs after the fulfillment of obligations to the client.

If you do not have the opportunity to pay agency fees, you will have to look for housing on your own - on specialized sites in open real estate databases. At the same time, it is cheap and safe to rent a house only from friends or relatives without a contract.

Illegal sublease - apartments through third parties

• Apartment for a day

As a rule, the victims of deception are careless people who do not check the documents for housing with the landlords. Fraudsters rent an apartment for daily rent, and then publish an advertisement for its long-term rent. At the same time, an artificial excitement is created around the apartment: an attractive option is offered to be removed for modest money, several applicants are invited to view at once (some of which may be fake).

The "owner" of real estate tells tales that he urgently leaves the city, so he will rent out an apartment today - to the first applicant. As a result, potential tenants start to compete with each other, they get into a rage. And at the stage of signing the contract, it turns out that the landlord accidentally "forgot" the title deeds or took only copies with him. By this time, many tenants want to rent an apartment so much that they take their word for it - they sign papers and give money no matter what. After that, the fraudster evaporates, and after a few days the deceived people are surprised to meet the real owners of the home.

• Multiple rental

Often, criminals manage to re-rent an apartment to several gullible tenants at once - some are swindled in the morning, others at lunchtime, and still others in the evening ... All these people get the keys in their hands and expect to move the next day. And instead, they collide under the door with comrades in misfortune. An indirect evidence of such a scam can be a request to pay for several months in advance.

• Overpayment to the swindler

According to the same principle, apartments are illegally subleased, only the dummy "owner" does not evaporate immediately, but takes money from the tenants for a rather long time. A person rents a house and pretends to be the owner of real estate. At the same time, he pays 20 thousand rubles for rent to the real owner, takes 30 thousand rubles from new tenants, and puts the difference in his pocket. The deceived tenants not only overpay - they live in an apartment “on a bird’s rights” basis, because the contract with the fraudster is invalid.

How to avoid becoming a victim of scammers?

Usually, such fraud schemes are quite primitive - scammers rely on the inexperience and gullibility of their victims. It is not so difficult to figure out the deception - it is enough to demand all the papers for the apartment, the owner's passport and ask a few leading questions about the apartment, which only the real owner can know.

However, more and more often criminals are going to a more sophisticated forgery: forging the originals of documents or "drawing" on the computer photocopies of certificates of ownership of housing, and then laminate them for clarity. Fraudsters can work in pairs: the dummy "owner" shows the papers, and the "realtor" checks their authenticity. In this case, it remains to rely on intuition or rent a house only with the help of trusted real estate agents.

Owner scam - homeowner scammers

• Collusion between the owner and the agent

One of the most common types of rental fraud is agency earnings. The scheme is quite profitable: the owner of the real estate and the realtor rent out the apartment, divide the agent's fee, and then evict the tenant under a far-fetched pretext. After that, they look for new unfortunate tenants and double the profit. The profit is rather big: usually, the rate of the agent's work is equal to the monthly cost of living.

The standard lease indicates that the landlord can terminate the agreement without financial loss in four cases:

1. if the tenant is three days late on payment
2. due to damage to property
3. due to systematic violation of the rights of neighbors (noise, unsanitary conditions)
4. due to the use of the apartment for other purposes

Greedy homeowners come up with surprisingly clever schemes to keep honest tenants ahead of schedule. They spare no effort to create unbearable conditions for the tenants. On the forums, you can find stories about secret damage to furniture, bribery of local homeless people who pretend to be "friends" of the tenant, make noise in the stairwell and set up neighbors against him, and even artificially provoked communal accidents. After that, the owners arrange an inaccurate check at the most inopportune time, act out righteous anger and force the tenants to move out.

In communal apartments, neighbors can collude. The methods of dealing with bona fide tenants can be the most unsightly - up to dead mice in soup in a shared kitchen.

• Rent bypassing relatives

It is not uncommon for tenants to become victims of family conflicts. They rent an apartment from the owner, check all the documents, conclude an agreement .. But they do not attach importance to the fact that several people share the apartment. Later it turns out that one of the owners decided to rent out the apartment without the knowledge of the other and not share the profits, a scandal arises.

In most of these situations, the landlord does not consider himself a fraud. He really was not going to deceive the tenant .. He just hoped for "maybe". And another interested party unexpectedly came to visit or learned about everything from neighbors.

In any case, there is little pleasant for innocent residents. At the very least, a scandal awaits them at the first meeting, and possibly communication with the police. Then everything will depend on whether the relatives will be able to settle the matter peacefully. Otherwise, tenants will either be forced to move out (the contract is not valid without the consent of all owners), or they will be required to pay more for housing - taking into account the interests of the other owner.

• Renovation at the expense of the tenant

Often, property owners use tenants as free labor. If an apartment or a room is in a very poor condition, you can make repairs and invest in building materials and workers ... Or you can rent out a house for a penny to gullible tenants who will gradually put everything in order on their own.

At the same time, the owners convince the tenants that the property is being rented for a long time. They even agree to partially finance the building materials: buy wallpaper, paint or glue. Many people are happy to agree to such a scheme: they like the idea of ​​paying cheap rent and making repairs themselves to their taste. To lull the vigilance of tenants, the parties enter into a contract for 11 months with the possibility of extension. At the same time, people expect to settle in an apartment for several years, so they try: they whitewash the ceilings and paint the walls "for themselves."

Further, when the repairs are completed and the housing has acquired a more marketable appearance, the owner unilaterally terminates the contract ahead of schedule. At the same time, as a rule, he is obliged to return the deposit to the tenants and compensate the commission that they paid to the agent when looking for housing ... But the savings on repairs are still significant. And if the apartment was rented out without a contract, the tenants are simply kicked out into the street.

How to avoid becoming a victim of scammers?

Unfortunately, when the homeowners themselves turn out to be scammers, tenants are very vulnerable. Potential conflicts with the landlord's relatives can be prevented if you carefully study the title documents for the apartment and require the consent of all owners to rent.

But the situation when the owner-swindler "survives" the tenants is very difficult to prove. If the contract is formally drawn up, you can try to fight: call the police and deny accusations of brawls or damage to property, meet with the owner only by prior agreement in the presence of witnesses. The standard lease agreement states that the landlord has the right to check the premises only once a month in the presence of the tenant - this gives you a reason to change the locks.

To prevent abuse on the part of the owner of the apartment, it is necessary to prescribe as accurately as possible all the obligations of the parties in the contract: what is the condition of all the equipment and furniture (with an estimate in rubles), who pays for repairs, if the cause of the breakdown is wear and tear, who has the right to be in the apartment ( tenants' guests, their relatives), whether tenants are allowed to keep pets.

In addition, you can get to know your neighbors in the entrance or communal apartment in advance. If the landlord is notorious, they will surely be up to date. And they will warn you about the endless leapfrog tenants.

But it is impossible to guarantee protection against fraudsters. The tenant can only minimize the risks through attentiveness, experience and intuition.

What documents must be present when concluding a lease agreement

Real estate market experts advise to conclude lease agreements. It is no secret that most of the rental housing market in Russia is shadow. However, this is the choice of the owners. The overwhelming majority of apartments are leased semi-officially: the parties sign an agreement, but do not register it, and property owners do not report additional income to the tax authorities. However, even a simple written lease is legally binding and can protect tenants' rights. Additional guarantees are the presence of a realtor, the letterhead and the seal of the agency.

The property owner must show the tenant:

• Original title documents for the apartment
• Original passport of the apartment
• Original passport of the owner
• A valid power of attorney for the right to rent out housing from other owners
• Paid utility bills

In addition to the contract, the tenant must have copies of title documents and the owner's passport on hand. In addition, the tenant should not forget about the act of acceptance and transfer of the apartment or room and the receipt for money. Each monthly payment must be recorded on paper with the signature of the parties and the date.

Don't be afraid to sound like a boring reinsurer to a realtor or rentier. Carefully study all the documents that you sign, try to provide as many nuances as possible and ask the real estate agent any additional questions. After all, renting a home is a service you pay money for.

Daria Sergeeva, correspondent for GdeEtotDom.RU

MOSCOW, September 15 - RIA Novosti, Konstantin Balakin. The rental market has always been saturated with unscrupulous businessmen, and in times of crisis and unstable times, as you know, swindlers tend to become more active. Representatives of real estate companies told RIA Nedvizhimost about the most common types of fraud and explained how not to become a victim of them.

Early eviction as earnings

Quite often in the rental market there is a fraud with the early eviction of a tenant from an apartment on invented reasons, says Maria Zhukova, director of Miel-Arenda. It happens that unscrupulous apartment owners present far-fetched claims to tenants in order to evict the tenant in order not to return the security deposit, and sometimes even the rent for a month.

"We were faced with a situation when the owner of the apartment turned it into earnings - he rented out his apartment, took a security deposit in the amount of the monthly rental cost and soon, having come up with some excuse, evicted the tenants," the deputy director of the apartment rental department shares his experience Inkom-Real Estate Oksana Polyakova. At the same time, he kept the pledge for himself, then again looked for new tenants in order to do the same.

The real lease term may also be hushed up, notes Polyakova. The apartment could be rented, say, only for three months, but the tenant was told that for a long time. And the monthly rental rate for long-term rent is 10-20% higher. After these three months, the owner has "insurmountable difficulties" in which it is necessary to vacate the rented apartment.

There is only one rule in such cases: clearly state all the living conditions, terms, rights and obligations of the parties, the procedure for early termination of the lease agreement, Polyakova advises. The law does not require notarization of the signatures of the parties when drawing up an apartment rental agreement: according to Article 674 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the agreement is considered concluded from the moment it is signed by the parties, she recalls.

“And the main thing is that you must not succumb to the provocations of the owner if you have not violated any of the rules set forth in the contract,” Zhukova emphasizes.

Fishing rod for news agencies

Until now, one of the most widespread frauds in the rental market is associated with the so-called "news agencies", Zhukova points out. Such agencies, she explains, for a certain fee provide a potential tenant with a database of homeowners with phone numbers and addresses. The housing offered in such lists usually either does not exist, or differs significantly in its cost.

Vera Larionova, the general director of the Megapolis-Service Mytishchi real estate agency, talks about a recent case with a client of their agency, who fell for such a "bait". A client approached them with a request to consider in more detail the options for renting a 1-room apartment in Mytishchi. After carefully reading the proposals, the woman took a break, since on the same day she found an advertisement in the newspaper about renting an apartment in Moscow in the Lubyanka district at the price of renting an object in Mytishchi.

“We were not at all surprised when a few days later we saw her again at our agency,” Larionova recalls. Chasing the "cheap" option, the client did not even bother to read the contract, according to which she made a payment in the amount of 20 thousand rubles. The contract turned out to be for the provision of information services. After signing it on the first day, she did not find at the indicated address even the house in which the apartment was allegedly rented out. On the second day, the persistent client at the agency was given a different address. When visiting a new facility, a scene was played out in front of a potential tenant, during which the owner of the apartment allegedly handed it over to other people just an hour ago. The client returned to the agency again and called the police officers, who did not find any violations in signing the agreement on the provision of information services. After the cops left, the owners of the agency called security and put the failed client through the back door.

In order not to face such problems, you should beware of options that are offered at reduced prices, this may turn out to be a bait for agents, advises Zhukova. First of all, suspicions should be raised by options that are offered at inadequately low prices, sometimes they can differ from the market ones by 50-70% - in such cases, we are usually talking about non-existent objects with the help of which agents want to attract potential customers.

"Carefully read the lease agreement. In no case should it be an agreement for the provision of information services," Larionova recommends. At the same time, all assurances that this is a standard-form contract cannot be taken into account, she adds.

According to Zhukova, the proposal to conclude an agreement and deposit money before showing the apartment should also be on the alert. "Payment for the services of a real estate agency occurs only after the contract for renting an apartment has been concluded, the keys have been handed over, and all settlements between the client and the owner of the apartment have been made," she says. The expert clarifies that the keys must be handed over on the day the contract is signed, the tenants can immediately make sure that the keys are suitable and have the right to stay in the apartment they have rented. If the owner of the home promises to hand over the keys on another day, you shouldn't pay the entire amount of the rent, you can deposit a small amount of security in this case.

Sublease Victims

Another type of deception is sublease, Zhukova continues. The scheme is simple - a fraudster rents an apartment, after which, having in his hands fake property documents and a passport, he introduces himself as the owner and rents the apartment at an attractive price to several tenants at once. He takes payment for a month or a security deposit from each tenant, then asks to wait a few days before moving in in order to allegedly take out his things, unnecessary furniture from the apartment, and put things in order. As a result, several deceived tenants find themselves at a closed door, and the real owner of the apartment is not aware of what is happening.

As an example, Marina Shekera, director of the Penny Lane Realty apartment rental department, cites a case that recently happened with an acquaintance of their broker. Having decided that he would be able to cope with the search for an apartment himself, he found an apartment for himself through an advertisement on the Internet. I met with the realtor and the owner (at least he was so sure that it was the owner that he did not even ask for documents). The tenant paid a month in advance, a deposit and a commission to the realtor. Then he said that the realtor was so kind that after the deal he showed him the area and explained where which shops were. In the morning the new tenant was woken up by a cleaning lady who opened the door with her key and said that the day was over and it was time for him to vacate the premises. It turned out that the young man had rented an apartment not at all from the owner, but from a tenant who rented an apartment that was rented out for daily rent. And his accomplice was hardly a realtor.

Nikita Orlov, the head of the LIANA real estate agency, says that often in such situations, they promise to conclude a lease agreement after a while, because, for example, they came from work to show the apartment, and the title documents accidentally left at home. Another option is that the pseudo-owners "literally tomorrow" will urgently fly on vacation, return in a month and settle the formalities. Or they say: “I don’t want to conclude a contract yet, all of a sudden I don’t like you as tenants, so live without any contract for now, and in a month or two, if everything goes well and you turn out to be clean tenants, we will conclude a full-fledged long-term contract”.

In order not to become a victim of such "subleasers", the lease should be concluded only with the owner of the apartment, checking his passport data and title documents, says Orlov. And Polyakova, in turn, warns that you should never transfer documents to your apartment into the wrong hands, even for a short time. Otherwise, fraudsters will be able to prepare fake documents and not only re-rent the apartment to several people, but also sell it altogether.

The injured party in such cases is also the deceived owners, although they do not lose money like tenants. Therefore, when renting an apartment, they should also be vigilant. "The owner should be alerted to any evasion of compliance with formalities when drawing up a lease agreement," Polyakova notes. She emphasizes that even if the document does not spell out the prohibition of the owner to sublease, then it is illegal. In other words, silence is not a sign of consent. In order for the re-lease of an apartment to be considered competent, there must be a written permission from the owner for such actions.

To protect himself, the owner of the apartment in the lease agreement can prescribe his right at a certain frequency, for example, once a month to visit the apartment in order to receive rent, check the payment of utility bills and, in general, check the situation, Zhukova adds.

Pseudo-agencies

Today, the use of the name of large and reputable real estate agencies is gaining popularity, says Polyakova: the fraudster calls a potential victim on the phone, introduces himself as an employee of a well-known company, offers a profitable deal, but asks to transfer the prepayment to the account indicated by him.

This scheme looks just as simple. Fraudsters advertise: a beautiful property at a great price and with a minimum agency commission for intermediary services. The employer calls the specified phone number and finds out: in order to get this excellent option, you must make an advance payment - transfer to the account. "And the tenant pays! This is amazing, because it is absolutely illogical, but the fact remains," Polyakova is surprised.

Our company, she continues, has already received several calls from defrauded citizens: only realizing that no intermediary services will be provided to them, they begin to look, in fact, for the company's phone number and call there. It turns out that this "agent" is not and has never been an employee of the company. “Yes, people check the“ authenticity of an agent ”, but only after he has deceived them, and not before paying money to someone who knows who and why - a paradox,” the expert is again amazed.

In such situations, it is advised in "Inkom", it is necessary to establish the identity of the agent: check his documents, find out the name of the company branch where he works. Do not be lazy to visit the office of the company and make sure that it represents exactly its interests. If there is no time for a visit, be sure to go to the company's website, find this branch and call the phone number listed on the website, and not the one given to you by the agent. "If an agent demands payment for apartment views (since it is spent on travel by public transport), immediately refuse the services of this" employee of a reputable company, "warn in Inkom.

Brother for brother

Real landlords can also be dishonest, Polyakova complains. For example, she says, the apartment is in shared ownership. The owner of the share - the room - rents it, and later it turns out that the other shareholders did not give their consent to such a deal. The contract is invalidated, and the tenant is evicted. Sometimes such situations are provoked by the owners themselves, she notes.

Often there are options when close relatives rent an apartment, Orlov continues. “My brother inherited the apartment, he has a place to live, the apartment is empty, but it could bring him income. My brother has no time to do this, so I’ve connected, I’m renting it out,” - such, according to him, there are explanations. Then a brother comes, who was not aware of such anxious kindred concern, and evicts everyone.

Or the son rents the apartment of his father, who allegedly left to live with relatives on a permanent basis in Abkhazia, Orlov recalls. The apartment is empty, does not plan to return to Russia. There is no power of attorney, but "this is my father", "we have the same surnames." At the end of the summer, the father, who peacefully fiddled during this period of time in the beds at the summer cottage, returns from vacation and, naturally, kicks out the tenants, since he himself needs to live somewhere and he did not even think about renting an apartment. At the same time, no one returns the deposit and prepayment to the tenant. The son, on the other hand, changes the SIM card in the phone and the "landlord's" phone becomes unavailable.

Another similar example from Orlov - an apartment, the owner of which is a wife, is rented out by her husband. He says that his wife is in the country and cannot come, so I show the apartment, "but if you want, you can call her and she will confirm everything." On the phone, a pleasant female voice assures the future tenant that she is a wife and that the husband has all the powers to conclude a contract, everything is done with her consent. The development of events - as in the previous cases: "I did not know anything and did not allow anyone to rent out our housing."

In order not to become involved in such stories, Orlov warns that when renting housing, you need to deal only with the owners. "To get insured, check before signing the lease: you must be given the written consent of all co-owners for the lease," supports colleague Polyakov. In turn, to establish all the owners, study the documents of title to the apartment, adds Larionova.

Do not believe the registration

Director of the Chelyabinsk real estate agency "Avital Company" Maxim Panteleev tells about a case that, perhaps, cannot be called typical, but nevertheless such unpleasant situations also occur.

The company helped one of its clients rent an apartment. The landlords presented a passport with a residence permit to the address of the rented apartment, but they did not show the certificate of ownership, saying that they lived in the Chelyabinsk region and all documents were allegedly at home. "However, when we ordered an extract from the Unified State Register, we found out from it that the" landlords "have not been the owners of the apartment for three days," Panteleev recalls.

A little later, in order to understand the situation, our colleagues visited the rented apartment and met with its new owners, Panteleev continues. It turned out that according to the sale and purchase agreement, the old owners had to check out and vacate the apartment within twenty days after the registration of the transfer of ownership. That is, the cunning former owners wanted to rent an apartment that no longer belonged to them, while asking for an advance payment three months in advance. It is clear that then they would have departed with the money in an unknown direction, and the new owners, naturally, would have evicted the tenant as soon as the fraud was revealed.

“By the way, the realtors went to the district police officer, but they were told that in fact there was no fraud. Now, if the former owners of the apartment with the money disappeared, then only then would the law enforcement agencies be able to accept the application,” Panteleev says.

In such situations, he advises the following: you should not believe either the registration or even the originals of the certificates of right - they are easy to "lose", and to get a copy for sale in Rosreestr. Try to order extracts from the USRR containing the latest information about the owner of the home that you intend to rent.