How to Check a Listing Before You Pay, Anywhere

Before you pay a deposit or a holding fee for any home, check three things: that the place exists and is really available, that the person you're dealing with has the right to rent or sell it, and that you're paying in a way you can trace. Most scams fail at least one of these checks.

Scammers copy real listings, photos and all, and post them at a tempting price. The checks below work in any country; the section on ownership records explains where to look in the US, England and Wales, Ghana and Cyprus.

Red flags, wherever you are

The US Federal Trade Commission lists warning signs that apply to rental scams anywhere:

• Pressure to decide fast. The FTC's advice: if anyone pressures you to make a decision quickly, walk away.
• Payment before you've seen the place, or before you've signed anything.
• Payment by wire transfer, gift card or cryptocurrency. The FTC compares it to sending cash: once it's gone, you probably can't get it back.
• An owner who is "out of the country" or has another reason they can't show you the home.
• Rent far below similar homes nearby.
• The same address advertised under different names, or a "rental" that is also listed for sale.
• Requests for sensitive information early on, such as ID numbers, before you've agreed to rent.

Check the listing itself

1. 1

   Search the photos

   Run the listing photos through a reverse image search. If the same photos appear in an older listing, at a different price or in another city, treat the ad as fake until proven otherwise.
2. 2

   Search the address and the name

   Search the address with the owner’s or agency’s name, and add words like “scam”, “review” or “complaint”. Other ads for the same address under a different name are a warning sign.
3. 3

   Check the address exists

   Look it up on a map and street-level imagery. Make sure the building matches the photos.
4. 4

   Compare the price

   Compare the rent or price with similar homes in the same area. A big discount usually has a reason.
5. 5

   Use contact details you found yourself

   Reach the landlord or agency through details you found independently, such as the agency’s own website, not only the number in the ad.

Check who owns it

The person showing you the home doesn't have to be the owner: managing agents, family members and companies rent homes out all the time. But they should be able to show that they act for the owner. Here is where ownership records are kept in the places Roofy covers most:

For New York City, start with Roofy's building records, then read how to search ACRIS and how to check an NYC building before you rent.

View it, meet them, then sign

See the home before you pay. If you can't travel, ask for a live video call where you choose what to look at: open the front door from outside, show the street, turn on the taps. A pre-recorded video proves nothing.

Get a copy of the agreement and read it before you send any deposit, as the FTC advises. Check that the names on the agreement match the owner or agent you checked, and that the address is the one you viewed.

Pay safely

• Pay by a method you can trace: a bank transfer to an account in the owner's or agency's name, or a card, which may let you dispute the charge.
• Never pay by gift card, cryptocurrency or a money-transfer service to someone you haven't met.
• Never pay to "hold" a home you haven't seen.
• Get a receipt for every payment, with the date, amount, currency, address and what it was for.

Roofy's free rent receipt template covers each of those details. Buying? The purchase offer letter sets out an offer in writing, clearly marked as not a contract.

Buyers face the same tricks at a larger scale, including fake payment instructions just before closing. Read how to protect your down payment from wire fraud.

If you think it's a scam

• Stop paying and stop sending documents.
• Report the ad to the website where it was posted.
• In the US, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, your local police and your state attorney general. In England and Wales, GOV.UK says to contact Report Fraud if you think you've lost money.
• Elsewhere, report it to your local police. If you paid by bank transfer or card, call your bank straight away.

Before you pay anything

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