District Attorney Warns of Rental Scams

In advance of the summer vacation rental season, Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeff Rosell is warning County residents about a scam involving rental home ads on websites such as Craigslist, Airbnb, and VRBO.

Typically, scammers take a legitimate rental listing and post it to one these home rental sites. The scammers then claim that they own the property and that it is available, but for a variety of reasons, they are unable to personally show prospective renters the property.

The scammers’ goal is to collect payments from prospective renters before the prospective renters realize that the scammers do not own the property.

Some indications that a posting may be fraudulent are: The rent is much lower than other comparable rentals; the “owner” or representative is unable to meet face-to-face with prospective renters; and the “owner” or representative asks prospective renters for an upfront cash payment or to wire payment through services such as Western Union or Money Gram.

Prospective renters should:

• Only deal with property owners that you can meet in person;
• Never wire payment in advance;
• Never give out financial information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, and PayPal information;
• Never rent a property sight-unseen;
• Never submit to credit or background checks until you’ve met the landlord in person.

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To report a suspected scam, contact the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office Consumer Protection Division at (831) 454-2050.