tips from the FTC<\/a> for avoiding hard-to-spot scams. Always see the property in person and never pay anyone until you’ve visited the property and are ready to sign a lease.”<\/p>\nInvitation Homes responds<\/p>\n
FOX 26 also contacted Invitation Homes, the home leasing and management company that owns the property.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson said the company is frustrated when its homes are used in rental scams and works with a third party to identify and remove fraudulent listings involving its properties.<\/p>\n
Invitation Homes warned prospective renters to be cautious of requests for cash or wire payments, unusually high security deposits and situations in which no background check is required.<\/p>\n
The company also encouraged anyone interested in one of its homes to contact Invitation Homes directly through its official website.<\/p>\n
How to spot a rental scam<\/p>\n
Leah Napoliello with the Better Business Bureau said renters should watch for several red flags.<\/p>\n
“If the price is extremely low for the rental compared to other prices in the area, that’s always a red flag,” Napoliello said.<\/p>\n
She also warned about people requesting unusual payment methods, including prepaid debit cards, Cash App, gift cards or cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n
“Those are all untraceable payment methods, so someone could just take the money and run,” Napoliello said.<\/p>\n
Renters should also be suspicious if they are not allowed to tour a property before paying.<\/p>\n
“You should always get that opportunity to tour the property,” Napoliello said. “Make sure the person that you’re in touch with is really the true owner.”<\/p>\n
The Houston Association of Realtors said renters can also verify a listing agent’s credentials through the Texas Real Estate Commission.<\/p>\n
Anyone who believes they have been targeted by a rental scam should report it to local law enforcement and the Federal Trade Commission.<\/p>\n
The Source<\/p>\n
Invitation Homes statement, Redfin statement, interview with victim who didn’t want to be identified<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A woman says she is out hundreds of dollars after falling victim to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57,2543,56309,143721,2447,33437,130505],"class_list":["post-411766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-houston-police-department","tag-invitation-homes","tag-multiple-listing-service","tag-property","tag-redfin","tag-rental-scams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}