{"id":11880,"date":"2011-12-04T08:37:25","date_gmt":"2011-12-04T13:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/?p=11880"},"modified":"2011-12-04T08:37:25","modified_gmt":"2011-12-04T13:37:25","slug":"thinking-of-renting-a-home-off-of-craigslist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/2011\/12\/04\/thinking-of-renting-a-home-off-of-craigslist\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking of Renting a Home off of Craigslist?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Think Again &#8211; Huntsville Renters beware!<\/h3>\n<p>We get calls nearly every week wanting to know if our rental ad is real on craigslist.  We don\u2019t deal in rental property, so the answer is always \u201cNO&#8230;it\u2019s a scam\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m thankful that we do get the calls so we can report them.  Unfortunately, I\u2019m sure many people don\u2019t report them and many more fall for the tactics.<\/p>\n<h3>Scam Artists Scrape Photos and List Rentals<\/h3>\n<p>The story usually goes like this:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cHome for rent.  We have been transferred out of the area.  We can\u2019t meet you at the house, so just drive by.  If you like it,  send us your deposit and first months rent and we will send you the keys.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>How To Avoid Fraud and Scams<\/h3>\n<p>Read the guidelines of <a href=\"\/\/huntsville.craigslist.org\/about\/scams\">avoiding fraud on Craigslist<\/a>. \u00a0It only seems reasonable that you wouldn\u2019t wire funds for a home that you haven\u2019t seen inside or to someone you haven\u2019t met.  Common sense tells me that.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_11901\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"width: 220px\">\n\t<a href=\"\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/craiglistScams.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11901\" title=\"craiglistScams\" src=\"\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/craiglistScams.jpg\" alt=\"Watch Out for Scams\" width=\"220\" height=\"220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/craiglistScams.jpg 220w, https:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/craiglistScams-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 220px) 100vw, 220px\" \/><\/a>\n\t<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Watch Out for Scams<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Recently, a fellow Realtor friend of mine from Phoenix Arizona, <strong>The Phoenix Real Estate Guy<\/strong>, decided to have<a href=\"\/\/www.phoenixrealestateguy.com\/anatomy-of-a-rental-scam\/\"> a bit of fun with one of the scammers<\/a>.\u00a0This is a true must read.  I was laughing hysterically and shocked at the lengths scammers will go to.<\/p>\n<p>Jay Thompson had a great time playing cat and mouse with the scam artist and showed all of us just how bold these jerks can be.  Go read his article&#8230;click around on recent articles of Jay\u2019s while you are there.  Jay has a way of dishing up some very thought provoking articles that will have you chuckling or teary eyed.  This man can write!<\/p>\n<h3>Holidays Approaching<\/h3>\n<p>As the holidays are approaching, scams will be running rampant more than ever.  Remember:  If it seems to good to be true, it more than likely IS!<\/p>\n<p>If you are searching for rentals in the Huntsville area, hire a rental specialist to assist you in your search.  If you need help finding a trusted source, we can give you a list of trusted property management companies in our area.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Elizabeth<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Think Again &#8211; Huntsville Renters beware! We get calls nearly every week wanting to know if our rental ad is real on craigslist. We don\u2019t deal in rental property, so the answer is always \u201cNO&#8230;it\u2019s a scam\u201d. I\u2019m thankful that we do get the calls so we can report them. Unfortunately, I\u2019m sure many people [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[66,41],"tags":[73],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11880"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11880\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athomeshuntsville.com\/realestate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}