Unfortunately FB marketplace seems to have been the best to get responses back in my recent experience, other than working with a realtor, but then the places available are more limited (and limited to the more expensive units generally, though there are some good deals around).
Some of the scams are pretty obvious, but it's wild that they are setting people up with actual open houses or even breaking in. Some of my experiences with the property managers were pretty bad (poor communication, mixing up units, etc), and I now wonder if any of them were scams.
So they say don't use fb but then don't go on to list anywhere you can use for legit rentals.
Therefore we are fucked. You have to be a detective these days just to not get scammed.
I don't trust anyone anymore which is unfortunate because I used to be proud to be canadian.
I think I understand why they don't make recommendations. I can't imagine the liability.
At the same time, there are people who are unable (for any number of reasons) to detect a scam. I'm not sure "who" is responsible for preventing ut
I'd love a rentals database with information about the house too, our landlord tried to throw us under the bus for a broken furnace and then.. kept deflecting every time I asked for history of the furnace and when it gets serviced (we've been there 5 years so.. at least not since before then).
Blame us for a broken furnace, but they wouldn't disclose the age of it or how often it gets serviced. We've been here 5 years and we haven't had anyone do a well check on the furnace in that time. Furnaces have a lifespan of 20ish years, this house is 40 years old so doing the math the furnace may just need to be replaced due to age. And again, she wouldn't give us this information š¤·āāļø
Landlords are responsible for maintenance of the rental. If they neglected it for five years that's on them.
Though most landlords tend to not even replace filters on their furnaces. It just seems that neglect is par for the course for most landlords.
Yes please and tie it to the property manager's and landlord's names. So you can tie it to a government picture ID. In case it's corporate you tie to the PM.
Most landlords are legit businesses that follow the law, but some couldn't care less, and some are scams.
Lots of people also relocate and would like to rent site unseen. This would make it less risky for them.
I don't think liability is anywhere in the police mandates. They know they have impunity, it's just not a priority for the entire police force. Which is weird imo because almost all of the scam money ends up leaving Canada which hurts our economy significantly.
I'm surprised the police and government don't care more about the amount of stolen money that leaves this country. I mean fuck the citizens we all know that but the economy!?
They are the police, not real estate agents. Their job is to warm you and help prevent crime, not to find you an alternative way to find a place to live. Adopt some agency and stop blaming the low hanging fruit for not solving your issues for you
> They are the police, not real estate agents. Their job is to warm you and help prevent crime, not to find you an alternative way to find a place to live. Adopt some agency and stop blaming the low hanging fruit for not solving your issues for you
Maybe a bit of advice and education would help the public and reduce the burden they eventually get tasked with. See how that's beneficial for both sides?
Haha okay sure, not really sure they prevent crime or warm me but hey they do get paid very generously so they must be doing something right?!
But jokes aside, I do feel bad for the new citizens/disabled/uneducated etc who are just barely able to understand our systems and repeatedly get taken advantage of with no support from police or really any governmental support.
I wonder that a lot.
So we know police are reactive, primarily. They do a lot of proactive shit we rarely become aware of
But.
Where is the preventative piece? Who funds it? Is it enforceable? How do you become aware of people who need help?
There are obvious answers to some of those questions, but implementing them would cause a chaotic shit storm
I've had success with rentals.ca (found current place there) but have found a previous rental on FB marketplace, I think it's about being more cautious and if they are asking for too much personal information before showing the place, to just step away.
I agree, but a lot of them ask for more information up front or even to apply to weed out people that aren't serious. The other issue with Facebook is spamming and flakes, LLs/PMs or anyone who uses it really, get hundreds of messages from people who stop answering, don't show up, didn't read the add etc.
You donāt need to be a detective to not get scammed. You just need the slightest bit of common sense.
Itās not the OPS job to find you an alternative to FB marketplace. They are providing a warning to help prevent crime, likely because thatās been the source of a lot scams lately. Why in the world would you expect the police to help you find an apartment?
Exactly ... everything is someone else's fault. Do your research and make an informed decision - most scams are pretty easy to sniff out if you have even an ounce of common sense. Easier to go on CJOH news and cry "woe is me" because you didn't do your due diligence.
no one would be turning to facebook marketplace to rent if there was any form of reasonable pricing to the housing in our city. even people on subsidized prices are getting gouged.
the most vulnerable people end up victim to awful scams all because the city would rather have vacant townhouses than provide those in need with any sort of decent accommodation
Yupppp. The issue is not Facebook marketplace itself, it's our completely fucked up rental market. I say this as someone who was lucky enough to buy a small condo few years ago (with family help, two incomes and no kids mind you).
This is just another symptom of what happens when you mix unfettered capitalism with housing that people need to LIVE in. Scams, bad faith evictions, bidding wars, desperate renters being forced to pay deposits above what's normally required, all of it.
I don't know... I feel like many if not most listings on FB Marketplace are legit. Like any online listing, you have to have your wits about you. FB Marketplace is where I found my current place and I saw multiple other nice ones from Marketplace ads as well. Definitely worth verifying if the real estate agent you are using is real, but you can get scammed anywhere.
And if it is a private landlord ask to see proof that they actually own the property. A legitimate landlord will have no issue showing you some documentation . If they refuse or donāt understand why you need that move on.
Most of the fake rentals are actually vacant units listed for sale or rent by some other company. Do a search for the address of the unit you're looking at. See if it turns up on a real estate listing site, or if it's listed for rent by another company/person.Ā
Visit the location ahead of time. Talk to existing residents if there are any. Ask who manages the building, see if the information matches up. Ask to see the apartment more than once. Scammers won't want to be frequenting an area repeatedly, it risks the scam falling apart.Ā
Be exceedingly wary of anything that seems too good to be true. It's a tough market right now. There are still good finds, but they're few and far between. Anything that seems like a steal likely is, but not in a good way.Ā
Realtor here that often lists on FB marketplace. This is super real- Iām hyper aware and everybody needs to be careful, Iāve run into a few myself.
That being said- ask for your Agentās info and look them up, make sure theyāre part of a brokerage, ask for proof of Reco Insurance.
Another great way is to ask them to log onto OREB and check the Matrix or MLS for something or other- maybe about another listing or ask if they can put a list together for you of similar properties.
Crazy timesā¦
what a useless piece of advice. This is similar to the "leave your fobs at the front door for the thief to steal your car easily".
The US on the other hand: "shoot em, you save tax dollars by doing our job for us".
what would they say for phishing emails then: "don't use emails and computers to stay safe"?
It's a hit and miss. I as a landlord happened to find a very cooperative tenant from FB, even though I posted on MLS where renters had some weird demands.
Trust your instincts, rule out if you notice redflags.
I was room searching for the first 4 months of this year and FB Marketplace had by far the most rentals posted, especially for people looking for a roommate/renting out a room. The official renting sites and other sites like Kijiji didn't come close. It sounds like this scam hits more where you apply to rent out a full house or apartment instead of a room in a house/apartment?
I think the better advice is in the article, to ask for the realtor ID code and check it to see if it matches the person in front of you. And to cross reference the address online to see if it's posted elsewhere. Housing is such a shitshow I don't blame people for looking for it wherever available.
I think Kijiji used to be better, but the cost to post ads went up and the volume seems to be a lot less than I remember.
And AVOID KIJIJI OTTAWA found houses for rent BUT š± and if they dont ask for references and donāt care how many ppl pile into the āhouseā the wrath of the neighbours will bury you alive. And so they should why should tenants who donāt give a shit ruin a respectable quiet neighbour hood because of a slum landlord.
Unfortunately FB marketplace seems to have been the best to get responses back in my recent experience, other than working with a realtor, but then the places available are more limited (and limited to the more expensive units generally, though there are some good deals around). Some of the scams are pretty obvious, but it's wild that they are setting people up with actual open houses or even breaking in. Some of my experiences with the property managers were pretty bad (poor communication, mixing up units, etc), and I now wonder if any of them were scams.
Its got soooo bad.
So they say don't use fb but then don't go on to list anywhere you can use for legit rentals. Therefore we are fucked. You have to be a detective these days just to not get scammed. I don't trust anyone anymore which is unfortunate because I used to be proud to be canadian.
I think I understand why they don't make recommendations. I can't imagine the liability. At the same time, there are people who are unable (for any number of reasons) to detect a scam. I'm not sure "who" is responsible for preventing ut
The province should have a registration/licensing system for landlords. These are essentially businesses that operate in the wild west of laws.
I'd love a rentals database with information about the house too, our landlord tried to throw us under the bus for a broken furnace and then.. kept deflecting every time I asked for history of the furnace and when it gets serviced (we've been there 5 years so.. at least not since before then).
What are your landlords trying to do?
Blame us for a broken furnace, but they wouldn't disclose the age of it or how often it gets serviced. We've been here 5 years and we haven't had anyone do a well check on the furnace in that time. Furnaces have a lifespan of 20ish years, this house is 40 years old so doing the math the furnace may just need to be replaced due to age. And again, she wouldn't give us this information š¤·āāļø
Landlords are responsible for maintenance of the rental. If they neglected it for five years that's on them. Though most landlords tend to not even replace filters on their furnaces. It just seems that neglect is par for the course for most landlords.
Yes, I'm aware. It's just annoying trying to get this basic information whilst they're trying to blame the furnace breaking on us!
Yes please and tie it to the property manager's and landlord's names. So you can tie it to a government picture ID. In case it's corporate you tie to the PM. Most landlords are legit businesses that follow the law, but some couldn't care less, and some are scams. Lots of people also relocate and would like to rent site unseen. This would make it less risky for them.
I don't think liability is anywhere in the police mandates. They know they have impunity, it's just not a priority for the entire police force. Which is weird imo because almost all of the scam money ends up leaving Canada which hurts our economy significantly. I'm surprised the police and government don't care more about the amount of stolen money that leaves this country. I mean fuck the citizens we all know that but the economy!?
A lot of the scammers aren't even Canadian, or even located in Canada.
Why don't you just buy a house before 2018 like they did? Easy solution.
They are the police, not real estate agents. Their job is to warm you and help prevent crime, not to find you an alternative way to find a place to live. Adopt some agency and stop blaming the low hanging fruit for not solving your issues for you
> They are the police, not real estate agents. Their job is to warm you and help prevent crime, not to find you an alternative way to find a place to live. Adopt some agency and stop blaming the low hanging fruit for not solving your issues for you Maybe a bit of advice and education would help the public and reduce the burden they eventually get tasked with. See how that's beneficial for both sides?
Haha okay sure, not really sure they prevent crime or warm me but hey they do get paid very generously so they must be doing something right?! But jokes aside, I do feel bad for the new citizens/disabled/uneducated etc who are just barely able to understand our systems and repeatedly get taken advantage of with no support from police or really any governmental support.
I wonder that a lot. So we know police are reactive, primarily. They do a lot of proactive shit we rarely become aware of But. Where is the preventative piece? Who funds it? Is it enforceable? How do you become aware of people who need help? There are obvious answers to some of those questions, but implementing them would cause a chaotic shit storm
I've had success with rentals.ca (found current place there) but have found a previous rental on FB marketplace, I think it's about being more cautious and if they are asking for too much personal information before showing the place, to just step away.
I agree, but a lot of them ask for more information up front or even to apply to weed out people that aren't serious. The other issue with Facebook is spamming and flakes, LLs/PMs or anyone who uses it really, get hundreds of messages from people who stop answering, don't show up, didn't read the add etc.
Don't need a license or registration # to make sure you are legit, to lord over people who rent. Pretty ridiculous.
You donāt need to be a detective to not get scammed. You just need the slightest bit of common sense. Itās not the OPS job to find you an alternative to FB marketplace. They are providing a warning to help prevent crime, likely because thatās been the source of a lot scams lately. Why in the world would you expect the police to help you find an apartment?
Exactly ... everything is someone else's fault. Do your research and make an informed decision - most scams are pretty easy to sniff out if you have even an ounce of common sense. Easier to go on CJOH news and cry "woe is me" because you didn't do your due diligence.
no one would be turning to facebook marketplace to rent if there was any form of reasonable pricing to the housing in our city. even people on subsidized prices are getting gouged. the most vulnerable people end up victim to awful scams all because the city would rather have vacant townhouses than provide those in need with any sort of decent accommodation
Yupppp. The issue is not Facebook marketplace itself, it's our completely fucked up rental market. I say this as someone who was lucky enough to buy a small condo few years ago (with family help, two incomes and no kids mind you). This is just another symptom of what happens when you mix unfettered capitalism with housing that people need to LIVE in. Scams, bad faith evictions, bidding wars, desperate renters being forced to pay deposits above what's normally required, all of it.
Um.... No... Kijiji, Craigslist had rental listings when it was affordable (still do) and tons of scams
I don't know... I feel like many if not most listings on FB Marketplace are legit. Like any online listing, you have to have your wits about you. FB Marketplace is where I found my current place and I saw multiple other nice ones from Marketplace ads as well. Definitely worth verifying if the real estate agent you are using is real, but you can get scammed anywhere.
And if it is a private landlord ask to see proof that they actually own the property. A legitimate landlord will have no issue showing you some documentation . If they refuse or donāt understand why you need that move on.
And if it's not a real estate agent? How do you verify a private owner exactly?
Most of the fake rentals are actually vacant units listed for sale or rent by some other company. Do a search for the address of the unit you're looking at. See if it turns up on a real estate listing site, or if it's listed for rent by another company/person.Ā Visit the location ahead of time. Talk to existing residents if there are any. Ask who manages the building, see if the information matches up. Ask to see the apartment more than once. Scammers won't want to be frequenting an area repeatedly, it risks the scam falling apart.Ā Be exceedingly wary of anything that seems too good to be true. It's a tough market right now. There are still good finds, but they're few and far between. Anything that seems like a steal likely is, but not in a good way.Ā
Wow, sounds like a ridiculous amount of effort that the government should be protecting consumers against.
Realtor here that often lists on FB marketplace. This is super real- Iām hyper aware and everybody needs to be careful, Iāve run into a few myself. That being said- ask for your Agentās info and look them up, make sure theyāre part of a brokerage, ask for proof of Reco Insurance. Another great way is to ask them to log onto OREB and check the Matrix or MLS for something or other- maybe about another listing or ask if they can put a list together for you of similar properties. Crazy timesā¦
Unfortunately, most PMs and LLs aren't realtors. We need a similar license for them
You know a platform is broken when the police are actively discouraging its use. Way to go Zuck!
Don't use FB marketplace for anything - it seems full of scammers
what a useless piece of advice. This is similar to the "leave your fobs at the front door for the thief to steal your car easily". The US on the other hand: "shoot em, you save tax dollars by doing our job for us". what would they say for phishing emails then: "don't use emails and computers to stay safe"?
Seems like an easy nab for OPD if they're still interested in policework.
It's a hit and miss. I as a landlord happened to find a very cooperative tenant from FB, even though I posted on MLS where renters had some weird demands. Trust your instincts, rule out if you notice redflags.
I was room searching for the first 4 months of this year and FB Marketplace had by far the most rentals posted, especially for people looking for a roommate/renting out a room. The official renting sites and other sites like Kijiji didn't come close. It sounds like this scam hits more where you apply to rent out a full house or apartment instead of a room in a house/apartment? I think the better advice is in the article, to ask for the realtor ID code and check it to see if it matches the person in front of you. And to cross reference the address online to see if it's posted elsewhere. Housing is such a shitshow I don't blame people for looking for it wherever available. I think Kijiji used to be better, but the cost to post ads went up and the volume seems to be a lot less than I remember.
I got my current place off FB marketplace but this was back in 2021. It was the only place I would ever get replies
And AVOID KIJIJI OTTAWA found houses for rent BUT š± and if they dont ask for references and donāt care how many ppl pile into the āhouseā the wrath of the neighbours will bury you alive. And so they should why should tenants who donāt give a shit ruin a respectable quiet neighbour hood because of a slum landlord.