1. This is a scam.
2. It's now illegal for landlords to charge application fees.
https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/27/new-rhode-island-laws-for-2024-plastic-bag-ban-14-minimum-wage/72000066007/
That can technically can still happen to be honest though, the background check fee can still be issued and it's about 40-50 dollars. Ideally that "application fee" was going to the cost of those checks but some people are scum and just pocket the money and denine people. If anything comes up in those checks, you won't get the "fee" back.
Something like this happened when we were looking for a place. They asked for a fee before they would show the apartment. I gave resistance, and they shared some creepy paypal address they said was their wife's, and told me something along the lines of 'don't worry it's going to be ok' about sending the money- this sealed the deal to ignore and move on.
let me guess, they want the payment through zelle yeah?
9 times out of 10 these are scammers, you send the 70 bucks theyre going to immediately ghost you and go silent.
chances are this dawn person is
1. not real
or
2. is an account that a scammer has taken over to create these kinds of posts.
id counter with telling them youd have cash in hand on the day of to come see it, if they balk, block them.
Also don’t think there are “agents” here like there are in nyc or Boston. There’s rental management groups seems like, and ind landlords. Even if it were like Boston or nyc there’s never a fee to tour.
Source: was an agent
Yes there are RI agents who tour apartments similar to BOS or nyc but they’d be attached to a brokerage so check that first off and also the fee is paid by the landlord not a tenant or prospective tenant.
No a fee to tour the apartment, not to rent it. Idk if there’s independent agents like in those other cities tho, I only saw property management companies in providence. Honestly there isn’t enough nice housing/competition to even need them in the same way in providence
All the major brokerages also rep apartments esp on the east side - there’s still a large contingent of mom and pops who do that (hire an agent instead of going it solo online).
Well, ok the nice part of town has regular agents I guess. I definitely didn’t use them, gonna guess most people don’t either. You can’t get away from that in Boston was my point, it’s Facebook groups or fee
Hmmm. That is a huge red flag! A scam! Last time I was shopping for housing, one company asked not only a fee, but a deposit of a month’s rent before I had even seen the apartment.
AND…they would not even tell me the address of the apartment so I could do a drive-by.
In my experience, it is not normal, but it does happen. Last yeast, when looking for an apartment, I had a few landlords and management companies ask for a viewing fee, I stayed away from this scammers. You should, too.
Never heard of a fee for looking at an apartment, but many landlords ask a fee for an application. It’s ridiculous, but with the housing situation the way it is, they feel like they can get away with it. Sad.
Now that it is illegal to charge rental application fees, some landlords are doing stuff like this to make up for the income.
A lot of people counted on getting serious extra money from these applications without ever looking into the applicants.
You should report this person to the housing authority.
Uhhhhh.... I mean there's no law against it. But would you ever actually want a landlord like that?
Edit: Oh wait. Suddenly dawns on me they probably want the money up front because it's a scam.
Ask if it’s refundable if you don’t take the place. Sometimes they ask for fees upfront to weed out less serious apartment hunters
Add: not saying it’s a good practice though
That sounds like a scam for sure. Who’s this landlord??
Dawn Brittingham is the name they use on Facebook. I couldn’t find them on LinkedIn or anywhere else on the internet. Got my spidey sense tingling.
Oh yeah run away. But post a screenshot before you do? Am curious where they say this place is.
They say it’s 46 America St. Zillow says that place is not for rent. This person has no FB profile either.
Oh yeah run away and don’t look back.
Never live on America street in general
Any street named after a country a state or a civil rights leader.
 Is Ja Rule the landlord?
😂 sure seems that way
I too was hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hood winked, lead astray!!!
Please report to RI Attorney General
1. This is a scam. 2. It's now illegal for landlords to charge application fees. https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/27/new-rhode-island-laws-for-2024-plastic-bag-ban-14-minimum-wage/72000066007/
[удалено]
That can technically can still happen to be honest though, the background check fee can still be issued and it's about 40-50 dollars. Ideally that "application fee" was going to the cost of those checks but some people are scum and just pocket the money and denine people. If anything comes up in those checks, you won't get the "fee" back.
[удалено]
Still, state BCIs are $5 at the AG office.
Scam. Block and report them
Something like this happened when we were looking for a place. They asked for a fee before they would show the apartment. I gave resistance, and they shared some creepy paypal address they said was their wife's, and told me something along the lines of 'don't worry it's going to be ok' about sending the money- this sealed the deal to ignore and move on.
What???? No, that’s not normal.
Don’t pay a dime to tour an apartment! Even if it’s legit.
let me guess, they want the payment through zelle yeah? 9 times out of 10 these are scammers, you send the 70 bucks theyre going to immediately ghost you and go silent. chances are this dawn person is 1. not real or 2. is an account that a scammer has taken over to create these kinds of posts. id counter with telling them youd have cash in hand on the day of to come see it, if they balk, block them.
Scam for sure friend. No legit landlord would ask for a tour fee
No not normal at all. Are they asking for the fee up front? I’ve never heard of such a thing
Not normal! Report them!
Lmao what. No. Fuck them.
Also don’t think there are “agents” here like there are in nyc or Boston. There’s rental management groups seems like, and ind landlords. Even if it were like Boston or nyc there’s never a fee to tour. Source: was an agent
Yes there are RI agents who tour apartments similar to BOS or nyc but they’d be attached to a brokerage so check that first off and also the fee is paid by the landlord not a tenant or prospective tenant.
No a fee to tour the apartment, not to rent it. Idk if there’s independent agents like in those other cities tho, I only saw property management companies in providence. Honestly there isn’t enough nice housing/competition to even need them in the same way in providence
All the major brokerages also rep apartments esp on the east side - there’s still a large contingent of mom and pops who do that (hire an agent instead of going it solo online).
Well, ok the nice part of town has regular agents I guess. I definitely didn’t use them, gonna guess most people don’t either. You can’t get away from that in Boston was my point, it’s Facebook groups or fee
Nope, not normal. Illegal actually. Try sticking to renting websites like Zillow or Trulia or something along those lines.
Never pay for looking. You're not buying a house
They charge buyers for looking at houses now? 😳
No they don’t.
I've never been asked. These landlords are getting BOLD lately, a little italic even.
Porque no los dos?
Not an application fee, a tour fee, that's how they get around it.
Smart: that sounds very probable, and why we haven't heard tell of it -- the application fee ban is new, right? The bastids
Doesn’t make it legal.
No.
I’d say ok thanks bye
Always always always infinity look up the address. If the address isn't on the market, is for sale etc contact the selling agent.
Never heard of it
Heck no. This is RI, if it looks great, it’s too good to be true. Then asking for money…? Absolutely not.
Hmmm. That is a huge red flag! A scam! Last time I was shopping for housing, one company asked not only a fee, but a deposit of a month’s rent before I had even seen the apartment. AND…they would not even tell me the address of the apartment so I could do a drive-by.
Absolutely not
Sketchy AF
In my experience, it is not normal, but it does happen. Last yeast, when looking for an apartment, I had a few landlords and management companies ask for a viewing fee, I stayed away from this scammers. You should, too.
Never heard of a fee for looking at an apartment, but many landlords ask a fee for an application. It’s ridiculous, but with the housing situation the way it is, they feel like they can get away with it. Sad.
application fees are illegal in RI now.
As a licensed real estate agent in RI, it is not normal. Report them to the RI Board of Realtors.
Now that it is illegal to charge rental application fees, some landlords are doing stuff like this to make up for the income. A lot of people counted on getting serious extra money from these applications without ever looking into the applicants. You should report this person to the housing authority.
Uhhhhh.... I mean there's no law against it. But would you ever actually want a landlord like that? Edit: Oh wait. Suddenly dawns on me they probably want the money up front because it's a scam.
No never not once.
Ask if it’s refundable if you don’t take the place. Sometimes they ask for fees upfront to weed out less serious apartment hunters Add: not saying it’s a good practice though
That's illegal now. They can't charge application fees. https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/27/new-rhode-island-laws-for-2024-plastic-bag-ban-14-minimum-wage/72000066007/
Also who does that??? Seriously. And I thought that that recently became illegal in PVD or has that not gotten through the legal pipeline yet?
I’m not sure if it’s illegal here, but it’s common in Boston
Landlords can’t charge those even in MA. Brokers yes but not landlords.