COMMENT OF THE DAY: A LIKELY STORY “Exact same thing happens every time I list my garage apartment on the MLS. Someone grabs the info and posts it to craigslist. I’ve always thought these folks are misguided but legitimate Realtors using it as a way to lure apartment seekers who don’t already have their own agent. They see the ad on CL, call the ‘agent’ and she takes them to the property and collects the buyers-side commission. However, it could be more of the scenario that Katie P describes, which is much more malicious. Earlier this year, I got a knock on my door from a person who wanted to see the apartment, even though the MLS [listing] had been removed a few weeks prior. He was not too pleased to find out the property was long gone. I found the ad on craigslist and called ‘agent Samantha’ to find out more about the property she listed. She was more than just a little flustered and told me that she wasn’t sure what properties her assistant had posted to craigslist. After a few minutes I informed her that the property was no longer available and she needed to remove the ad.” [Kepdogg, commenting on The MLS Rental Scam Going on Now in the Heights]
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Unscrupulous people in real estate? I’m shocked!
If in fact this was a licensed real estate agent that was acting in such an unscrupulous manner, they should be reported to the Texas Real Estate Commission.
When I called “agent Pennie” pretending to be interested in my house I asked if she was the listing agent. She told me she was! Then I told her who I was and she immediately said that her assistant must have input the wrong data, blah, blah, blah. This was Margaret (Pennie) Barker of Realty Exchange. There’s another scam rampant in NYC that we may be getting a glimpse of here…when realtors take application fees from multiple people for places that aren’t for rent. Then they tell them “sorry, you didn’t get the place”. “Agent Pennie” had listed an application fee for my house which, when it was for rent, we were not charging.
Oh, and “agent Pennie” has 165 ads on Craigslist, each with an application fee of $35-50.
Katie and everyone else who has caught a licensed agent engaging in this should report them to TREC and makes sure TREC knows that they, the owner/landlord, at no time gave them permission to run the ad on Craigslist or anywhere else. And if they’re taking an application fee on a unit they don’t have a listing agreement on, they should be reported to the district attorney’s office as well…
Craigslist Houston is useless for apartment hunting. Almost every ad is a broker of some kind. I don’t know why Craigslist does not do something about it.
I work in real estate, and yes my scruples are in tact. :) Any agent posting (anywhere) is required to fully disclose that they are an agent and list their sponsoring broker/company. If that info is not disclosed, they can face SERIOUS fines. If reported. However, I have tried to identify a few of these interlopers and can’t find out who they actually are to report them. Go figure. We’ve had several listings posted as well by people claiming to be agents, listing or otherwise.
Darogr: The brokers are undoubtedly a pain, but when I list my apartments on Craigslist, they’re usually filled in less than two weeks and many times I receive multiple applications. Hardly useless to those willing to look deep enough to find the real ads and for landlords that manage their own properties. I’ve also noticed that sites like Padmapper, that utilize Craigslist data, are generating more and more hits on my website from interested apartment hunters. No complaints here.
Just last summer, I rented a room successfully through Craiglist. All went well, but, I guess I need think that I may be assumed to be a scam of some sort. Too Bad.