Santa Barbara County leaders are warning residents to be on the lookout for fraudulent rental listings.
If you are in search of a new apartment and the listing has misspelled words, grammatical errors, or asks you to put down a deposit prior to visiting the property, you should be wary of its legitimacy.
“There are reports of people that are hearing about an awesome listing and they are so excited to apply for it because they finally found something in budget and then they realize, it is not real,” said Kelsey Gerckens-Buttita, Public Information Officer for the County of Santa Barbara.
She says in recent weeks, her team has fielded an increase in reports of people being scammed by fake rental listings. She says one of the biggest things to look out for, is if a listing seems too good to be true.
“If you are seeing that the average price for a rental is this high, and all of a sudden you think, 'I will get a two-bedroom for the cost of a one-bedroom rental. This is great! I need to jump on this and move forward.' If it is too good to be true, it probably is,” she told KSBY.
Some locals we spoke to shared stories of friends and family who fell victim to rental scams.
“They got all of her information and made it seem like she was going to get the apartment and everything. She paid $100 for the application,” explained Santa Maria resident Julian Silva, whose sister was scammed. “Then they told her she wasn’t going to get the apartment."
“They had an interview at an apartment complex where they were supposed to meet the person. They paid through some pay form like Venmo. But when they arrived at the apartment, it turned out that the person didn’t even work at the apartment, didn’t own the apartment or anything like that,” added Khiry Palacio, whose friend recently fell victim to a fraudulent rental listing.
Gerckens-Buttita also says it is a good idea to visit the location of a listing in person before putting down a security deposit or providing your credit card information.
She adds that if you are moving in from out of town, there are other ways to verify the legitimacy of a listing.
“You can always ask for a video call or FaceTime video interaction and tour of the unit. When you get that sort of certification, this lets you know the person actually has access to the unit,” she explained.
If you are a victim of a rental listing scam, report the crime to local law enforcement and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. In Santa Barbara County, you can also submit a report to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Consumer Protection Unit.
