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 Post subject: Is this renter fishy?
PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:55 pm 
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Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:45 pm
Posts: 2
I'm looking for an apartment and I found this great deal (hundreds below tpyical rent in the building). Something about it seems off though...I can't really put my finger on it. Please read our conversation - any advice as to how I should proceed? Thanks in advance,
Mike

From Renter:

Hi,

Thank you for your interest. The apartment located at Archstone Del Mar Station - 265 Arroyo Parkway, Pasadena, CA 91106, with 1 bedroom, 1 living room and 1 bathroom, square ft. 1209 is available, because I have moved to the United Kingdom, London, with my job and I need the money to pay the rent here. That's the reason I want to rent it at this price, and find a good person to take care of it. The contract will be signed for the period of time that you need, with the possibility of renewing it for 5 years the most. I am the owner of the apartment, so you have nothing to worry about. Regarding the furniture, you can feel free to move it wherever you like. If you have your own furniture, I will take mine away, so don't worry. The rent for 1 month is $1,100.00 including all utilities for all the 5 years (water, electricity, Internet, cable, parking, air conditioning, washer/dryer in unit, dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave, refrigerator). You can move in the apt in the same day you receive the keys with the contract. The only problem is that I am the only person who has the keys, but I hope that we will come to a compromise.
PS: This is a cat and dog-friendly building (no weight limit).

Thank you for your interest and awaiting your reply,


From Me:

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Everything sounds very good - I'm very much interested. To be perfectly honest, the location and the amenities are precisely what I'm looking for.

If you are looking for someone trustworthy and responsible to take care of your place, I am a great cacandidate. I would happily provide references, proof of employment, or other proof of my credibility. The fact that you are overseas does make things a little more difficult, but think we should be able to work out something that makes us both comfortable. I am very much willing to work with you on this point, so please feel free to provide your input.

For starters, a 6 month lease with month-by-month after that would be ideal for me, but I am flexible on this. I am interested in what lease terms (such as deposit) you are looking for. If we can come to agreement on the lease terms, then I would only need to see the apartment before I would be prepared to sign. How we arrange this is really up to you, after all, it is your place and you have the keys. My first thoughts are if you have anyone you trust out here they could serve as your liaison to receive the keys and show me the apartment on your behalf. Otherwise, possibly the building management could do this.

I am very hopeful that we can work out an agreeable arrangement.

Thanks again,

From Renter:

Hello,
Thank you for your reply. Regarding your questions the contract will be signed for the period of time that you need, with the possibility of renewing it for 5 years the most and if you have your own furniture, I will take mine away, so don't worry. Like I have informed you before, the price you shall pay for one month of rent will be $1,100.00 including all utilities with no extra fees for the duration of the contract. About the money, I would like to receive them monthly into my bank account and I hope there will be no problem for you to wire the money to it. The apartment is ready for you, you only need to receive the keys and the contract so you could check it out, and see if you like it.
Obviously we need a way to complete this deal that will allow us to make sure we receive what we are asking for. I have found a way for us to complete the deal safely and fast, and in this way you will receive the Keys in less than 2 days. The solution is provided by a company called TNT which is similar to FedEx, DHL or UPS, which will handle the payment and delivery of the Keys. I have found a procedure that will allow you to pay for the rent of the apt only after you will receive the keys, and through this way you will see it and decide if you like it or not, before sending the payment. Please click on the link bellow to the TNT website to see how we can
complete the deal safely and fast directly from the website of the company where this procedure is explained: http://www.tnt.com/country/en_generic/s ... tical.html
Let me know if you are interested, because I really need to take care of this matter by the end of next week.
Best Regards


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 Post subject: Re: Is this renter fishy?
PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:54 pm 
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Moderator

Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:10 am
Posts: 583
It's beyond fishy... they are definately a scammer. Just tell them you found another place with a better deal and end it there.


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 Post subject: Re: Is this renter fishy?
PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:18 am 
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Gold Member

Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:50 am
Posts: 291
Location: WI
Yup scam. As soon as I saw the shipping site TNT on there I knew it was a scam. I have to say their English is better than a lot of the scammers that we see.


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 Post subject: Re: Is this renter fishy?
PostPosted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:56 pm 
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Site Admin/Co-Founder

Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 10:09 pm
Posts: 2921
I was impressed with how much better this letter was than the usual scam letters . . . did the scammers hire someone to edit their letters? :wink:

And yes . . . TNT was the dead give away that it was a scam.

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 Post subject: Re: Is this renter fishy?
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:48 am 
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Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:45 pm
Posts: 2
Yup, officially a scam now. The next email totally switched around the the order of payment from get the keys in hand then pay, to pay first to a TNT holding account before TNT's rep verifies payment and sends the keys. What a SCAM!

I even made a quick call to TNT customer service just to confirm that they do not provide such services.

Thanks everyone for the heads up. I knew it seemed fishy... guess it's always best to go with your gut on this kind of stuff!


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