Freddie Mac’s fraud unit is teaming up with real estate professionals who
list HomeSteps homes to sniff out bogus rental ads of REO properties — a growing
problem, according to Freddie Mac.
“We’re hearing more reports about fraudsters trying to cash in on the housing
crisis’s remaining foreclosed homes by advertising them as rentals on the
Internet,” writes Freddie Mac in a recent blog post warning about the Craigslist
REO rental scams.
The scam works like this: After a house is sold at foreclosure, a scammer
then posts an ad online trying to rent out the home before the new owner moves
in. Interest renters then contact the scammer about leasing the property, and
they are asked to submit their personal credit information for the lease
application as well as two months of rent.
It’s often not until the would-be renters try to move in that they realize
they’ve been duped: The key to the house doesn’t work or they find the house is
for sale or even that the previous owners are still living there. There have
been some cases where scammers change the locks in the house and give the
renters a working key. It’s the real estate listing agent who then often
discovers the renters living there and the scam.
Freddie Mac and real estate professionals are working together to find the
fake Internet rental ads. When they do, they are having the ads removed
immediately. They’re also warning renters on how not to be duped from the ads,
such as always verifying the home’s status through a listing agent or through
county records.
Source: “Caveat
Renter: Fraudsters Falsely Advertising REO as Rentals,” Freddie Mac Blog
(Oct. 8, 2012)
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