Scammers can create fake ads for properties or rooms for rent and use these to steal your money or sensitive information
To avoid falling victim to a rental scam, research a property and the person offering the lease to make sure it鈥檚 legitimate
Knowing common rental processes and the rules governing leases in your state or territory will also help you spot scams
These have been trying times for tenants across Australia 鈥� national rental vacancy rates have hit a record low and the cost of leasing somewhere to live in most capital cities continues to increase, according to Domain鈥檚 latest quarterly rental report released this month.
As they do so often, scammers are stepping in to exploit the demand.
Consumer regulators, banks and real estate and tenant groups are warning of criminals creating fake rental listings to steal money or sensitive information from those looking for somewhere to live.
Securing a rental requires a serious investment of time and money, so there鈥檚 lots to lose if it goes wrong. Our tips below will help you steer clear of dodgy offers.
Use established real estate platforms and be wary of listings on social media
Scammers setting up fake rental listings tend to advertise them on social media or online classified marketplaces, so be careful of properties or rooms being put up for lease on these forums.
The Tenants鈥� Union of NSW recommends using established real estate sites like domain.com.au and realestate.com.au to find somewhere to rent.
Most of the properties or rooms listed on these platforms are offered by professional property managers, so have been vetted and verified as authentic.
It’s also a good idea to limit your searches to leases advertised by established real estate agencies.
Look for realistic prices
Ads for rentals in every state and territory have to list a fixed amount you鈥檒l be expected to pay each rent cycle.
They can鈥檛 list a price range or invite you to make a bid, so avoid anyone doing this.
Using a trustworthy real estate platform to understand average rental prices in the area where you want to live will help you spot any offers that are too good to be true.
Your or tenants’ union might also offer their own rent tracking and comparison tools.
Check the address
Look for the address of the property and use Google Street View to make sure it matches any photos included with the advertisement.聽
But beware that scammers can steal photos and property descriptions from legitimate sources, so do a reverse image search on photos and put the text from the ad into a search engine with quotation marks at the beginning and end if you鈥檙e suspicious.
If the same images and description appear on a listing for a property in a different location or are used on lots of other listings, you鈥檝e likely encountered a scam.
Inspect a property inside and out before agreeing to rent it or handing over any money.
Inspect thoroughly
You should thoroughly inspect a property, inside and out, or send someone you trust to do this, before agreeing to rent it or handing over any money.
Someone running a fake listing won鈥檛 let you do this and will go to great lengths to make excuses for why it鈥檚 not possible, often claiming to be overseas or interstate.
Don鈥檛 settle for just driving past the property or looking at it from the outside 鈥� offering to let you do this is another common rental scammer tactic.
2. Research the person or company advertising the property
Work with professionals
Most home owners who want to rent their property pay a professional property manager, such as a real estate agent, to find tenants and run the leasing process.
Therefore, dealing with an established real estate firm in the area where you want to rent will reduce your chances of being caught up in a scam.
A legitimate agent negotiating a lease will follow an official application and screening process, which should take some time.
Beware of anyone trying to rush you into handing over money straight away.
Check a property manager鈥檚 details
If a property manager works for a particular real estate agency or other group, they should be contacting you via official channels associated with that business.
Make sure their emails come from an address that includes the agency or business name, rather than a personal email service, like Gmail.
If you鈥檙e suspicious, contact an agent鈥檚 employer using details you鈥檝e found yourself to check they are who they say they are.
Real estate agents also have to be licensed. The website of should have information on where you can search your local register.
Renting has become crucial to meeting Australia鈥檚 housing needs. Therefore, there are a growing number of regulations that dictate the course of any legitimate rental process.
Despite some broad similarities, rules and responsibilities for renters, property managers and landlords vary by state and territory.
Avoid falling for scammers by familiarising yourself with what information you should be given and what payments you can be asked for in the state or territory where you鈥檙e planning to rent.
Check the links below to see information from state and territory governments and consumer protection agencies on taking out a lease in:
Paying rent in advance
Each jurisdiction has limits on what fees and charges managers can request from tenants before they move in, but these vary by location.
There are rules on how much rent you can be asked for in advance and who you pay your bond to.
For example, in most states and territories, renters can鈥檛 be asked to pay more than two weeks of rent in advance, but in some states they can be asked for four.
Avoid dealing with anyone asking for more than what鈥檚 allowed in your state or territory (you may not be able to rely on them to provide you with a property) and report them to .
The bond process
The maximum bond or security deposit you can be asked for also varies: in most states it鈥檚 four weeks worth of rent, but in other areas it鈥檚 six.
Luckily though, when you鈥檝e paid a bond, almost all jurisdictions have similar strict rules on where this money has to be sent.
In everywhere except the Northern Territory, a bond can鈥檛 be held by the property manager, owner or landlord.
Rather, it has to be lodged with a government body, often a bond authority or revenue office.
Different states and territories have different rules about whether the renter, property manager or either of these transfers this money to the relevant government body.
But most states decree that it has to be done within a certain time and that the renter should be given a receipt to prove the process has been completed.
The exception to all this is the Northern Territory, where landlords can hold a bond themselves.
Securing receipts
Tenant groups and consumer protection agencies recommend securing and keeping receipts for any payments you make.
Depending on the state or territory where you鈥檙e renting, this may be provided automatically for a bond payment, but you might need to ask the property manager or landlord for receipts of other fees, such as rent in advance.
Securing a property can require lots of frantic back and forth with a property manager, often by email 鈥� a process which can be easy for scammers to prey on.
Business email compromise (BEC) scams see criminals gain access to the email accounts of businesses and send messages to clients asking for money or sensitive information.
Businesses in the property sector have been the target of these operations, with criminals using the BEC method to impersonate real estate agents and conveyancers in order to convince home buyers or renters to hand over sizeable sums of money.
Be wary of any unexpected emails coming from a property business you鈥檝e been dealing with that ask you to send money to a particular bank account, especially if it鈥檚 one you haven鈥檛 used in your previous dealings with that business.
If you receive a suspicious request like this, call someone at the business to verify using a phone number that you鈥檝e found yourself and isn鈥檛 included in the suspicious email.
Don’t get ripped off. Our expert tips can help you spot and avoid the latest scams.
Liam Kennedy is a Journalist with the Editorial and investigations team. He answers consumers' most burning questions, from which scams to be aware of and how to save money, to whether new services and products are worth using and how the latest developments in consumer news could affect them.
Prior to 糖心Vlog, Liam worked in production in daily news radio and podcasting.
Liam has a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the University of Technology Sydney.聽
Find Liam on and .
Liam Kennedy is a Journalist with the Editorial and investigations team. He answers consumers' most burning questions, from which scams to be aware of and how to save money, to whether new services and products are worth using and how the latest developments in consumer news could affect them.
Prior to 糖心Vlog, Liam worked in production in daily news radio and podcasting.
Liam has a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the University of Technology Sydney.聽
Find Liam on and .
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