Real Estate Listing Scams

[Terrel L. Shields]

Message from our MLS

One of our agents listed a property and later found out he was
not the actual owner. And stated the following:

"The scammer had done his homework and knew a lot about the
property and even some of the neighborhood. He did have a slight
Middle Eastern accent, and his number was 509-231-6850. He was
very calm and personable. He did say that he would like to sell
quickly. He was very polite and understanding when I couldn't
get the property listed as quickly as he wanted it. Everything
was going to be done remotely. Looking at the situation now, I
think had I asked for a driver's license, maybe I would have
caught this quicker. That is going to be our new practice in our
office moving forward. A police report was filed, and OREC was
contacted."

Agents be cautious and try to always verify the identity of the
seller and/or buyers.

 

[J Grant]

This sounds like a fake post. Almost any agent would want to go out and view the property and meet the owner before listing it.

 

[Mark K]

This sounds like a fake post. Almost any agent would want to go out and view the property and meet the owner before listing it.

View the property? Sure. Meet the owner? Not necessarily, especially if the owner is not the occupant or if its vacant. Stinks of a scam but some realtors are so gullible and greedy, they'd fall for it. The local MLS sends out notices like that about once a month. Lot of variations on the theme.

Similar scam in this area a few years ago. Scammer would pull up info on a house at random, then put it up for lease online. He'd tell prospective renters that it's still occupied so don't bother the existing renters but to secure the rental the victim would have to send the first month's rent, maybe $1,500, to him at his overseas address because he was a missionary in another country and wouldn't be home for another 2 years. Imagine the owner's surprise when a tenant shows up with a signed lease.

 

[Bobby Bucks]

View the property? Sure. Meet the owner? Not necessarily, especially if the owner is not the occupant or if its vacant. Stinks of a scam but some realtors are so gullible and greedy, they'd fall for it. The local MLS sends out notices like that about once a month. Lot of variations on the theme.

Similar scam in this area a few years ago. Scammer would pull up info on a house at random, then put it up for lease online. He'd tell prospective renters that it's still occupied so don't bother the existing renters but to secure the rental the victim would have to send the first month's rent, maybe $1,500, to him at his overseas address because he was a missionary in another country and wouldn't be home for another 2 years. Imagine the owner's surprise when a tenant shows up with a signed lease.

I have some land listed in another state and one of the first things the listing agent asked for was driver's license, etc. she said they have frequent attempts at scramming with out of town or state owners. The rental scams are much easier to pull on the unsuspecting public because they're in a hurry, sometimes frantic and the amounts are less. I had a relative who came very close to putting a deposit on a rental advertised online, it appeared too good to be true and it was. I did a quick search and there were red flags everywhere.

 

[Bobby Bucks]

I’m unsure if this would qualify as a scam, but it certainly was a crime. I constantly search new listings for deals and have the parameters set. One day a “vacation second home cabin” listing popped up that appeared to be well below market value. The listing stated the property was vacant, rarely used, etc. viewing outside and walking the lot and land was okay, it would be a few days before the interior could be viewed. I was at the property within a couple hours and got an offer ready to submit. Long story short, the property was indeed a second home and was vacant, but it was not for sale. Someone hacked into the MLS system and put it up for sale, apparently someone had an ax to grind with the listing agent who was not the listing agent at all since it wasn’t listed. Sounds like a lot to risk just to even the score for a grudge since that’s what it looked like, meanwhile a lot of people went to see that “listing” before they were able to pull it out of the system, my guess is some may have driven several hours to see this “deal”. Their phones were ringing off the hook. I can’t imagine how angry someone must have been to go to that much trouble to get back at the agent/listing firm.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

This sounds like a fake post

This is coming thru the MLS office. The agent verified the property and determined this was not the owner.