[Jazzman]

Originally Posted by STLRAY

I am planning to rent a house in TV soon and it occurs to me that I am about to send a five figure check to a stranger who posted pictures and a description of a house on a website. The person does not need to actually own a house to post these pictures and collect checks from multiple strangers. Am I being paranoid or is this a real risk? I know lots of people have been ripped off on adds for cars on E-bay and Craigslist. Do the people operating these websites confirm that the person listing the rental actually owns or manages the properties they are advertising?

There are many rental agencies that list homes for rent,, including the Villages Properties. You don’t deal with the owner only the agency. You’re not saving that much money and if there’s an issue with the rental while you are there you make one call directly to the rental agency.

[nikonuser1]

There are a number of good suggestions here. The first time I rented, in 2010, I was a bit concerned, as you are. I had no problems. It turned out the person I was dealing with was the manager of the property. The owner had a book in the home explaining this. The second time I rented, in 2012, I rented the same home using the same manager.

[ts12755]

People have been ripped off that way... and, it depends where the home was listed. Do your due diligence.

[triciakaz]

Originally Posted by STLRAY

I am planning to rent a house in TV soon and it occurs to me that I am about to send a five figure check to a stranger who posted pictures and a description of a house on a website. The person does not need to actually own a house to post these pictures and collect checks from multiple strangers. Am I being paranoid or is this a real risk? I know lots of people have been ripped off on adds for cars on E-bay and Craigslist. Do the people operating these websites confirm that the person listing the rental actually owns or manages the properties they are advertising?

Be very careful. Places like craigslist run scams all the time. I worked 12 years for a vacation rental company and criminals would copy the photos and details off our website, put the house on craigslist with their information and ask for a large deposit. Usually they offered a discounted price, so if it seems too good to be true it probably is a scam. Places like **** are safer but your best bet is to go through a local rental company that you can verify. That way they should have maintenance people etc. on staff And also there are options in case an owner decides to pull the rental for some reason.

There are many wonderful owner-managed Vacation rentals but Be cautious about scams.

[PennyAnn]

We always checked the tax rolls, verified where the owner said they lived, googled their name for backgrounds and only rented through villagershomes4rent or a safe property mgmt firm. Good luck. You should be fine as long as you are careful.

[Tom M]

Originally Posted by ron32162

Villagershomes4rent.com or VH4R.com

Agree, know many who've used this without any problems. Generally, scammers are cheap and use a free site like Craigslist while Villagershomes4rent costs the poster.

[Dot Rheinhardt]

I rented out my condo in the FL Keys. A woman called to rent it, said she was getting married, and her husband's boss would pay for it. We agreed on a price. She called back. The boss had sent a check to her for $1,000 too much. She would send the check and asked that I send one for $1,000. This was a scam. So owners can get scammed, too. I would check with the County. I always advertised in the Sun. I never had problems getting renters for my homes in TV.

[KRM0614]

Originally Posted by STLRAY

I am planning to rent a house in TV soon and it occurs to me that I am about to send a five figure check to a stranger who posted pictures and a description of a house on a website. The person does not need to actually own a house to post these pictures and collect checks from multiple strangers. Am I being paranoid or is this a real risk? I know lots of people have been ripped off on adds for cars on E-bay and Craigslist. Do the people operating these websites confirm that the person listing the rental actually owns or manages the properties they are advertising?

It’s the wild Wild West out there ! I personally would not do it. I rented from villages rental service and they’re the scum of the earth. Toilets and sewer backed up 4 times in a month could not shower flush etc. my deposit was by credit card and I had to dispute their refusal to return it. It took7 months and sadly I would have paid attention and not stayed.

Listen to your instinct. Proof of ownership in person and get a place thru a friend

[KRM0614]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

It is a real risk. I don't think you can depend on the website to help you. But, you can verify who owns the house by going to the county real estate website. You can also ask the owner for some previous renters as references. I would feel more comfortable if the landlord would accept a credit card, but that may not be possible.

Or, you could rent a house from a recognized business, like a licensed broker or The Villages Management Company.

Villages management is a private business and they are crooks! Awful people don’t even see the properties and you won’t see your security deposit unless like me you must dispute took 7 months with Visa !

[KRM0614]

Originally Posted by Laker14

I had the same concern and I'll tell you what I did which worked for me. The first year I paid the extra $ and went through DownHome Properties. It was more expensive, but I felt secure, and the place was well appointed, and when there was an issue with plumbing it was dealt with quickly and efficiently. That was a 3 month rental.
During that 3 months I found a private renter, who I got to meet an walk through the place with. That made me feel more secure, when I rented from him. It was considerably less expensive, but not as well appointed. Not as many towels, dishes etc not as complete or as nice.

There was still some risk, but I felt a lot better about it than I would have just sending a wad of cash and hoping that someone and some place would be there when I showed up.

Good luck.

So the plumbing sewer issues are chronic? My toilets exploded and shower and sink! Took 4 visits to finally dig up sewer and replace underground plastic piping ! Hometown property are crooks

[cj1040]

We rented thru villages4rent also 5 different properties and never had a problem...

[kens613]

Im familiar with the county process of checking.. If you would send the info on the rental, name address etc i will check it out for you.. Send to Ken at kens613@gmail.com..

[BerniceD]

I rent a room in my home through Airbnb, one of the things I like about using them is each guest comes with insurance that Airbnb supplies me. I am sure as a renter you would get the same insurance. There are SOOOOOOO many scams out there today that it doesn't hurt to be cautious.

[grfmus03]

Originally Posted by STLRAY

I am planning to rent a house in TV soon and it occurs to me that I am about to send a five figure check to a stranger who posted pictures and a description of a house on a website. The person does not need to actually own a house to post these pictures and collect checks from multiple strangers. Am I being paranoid or is this a real risk? I know lots of people have been ripped off on adds for cars on E-bay and Craigslist. Do the people operating these websites confirm that the person listing the rental actually owns or manages the properties they are advertising?

Check out villagers4rent.com, scroll down to Help & Information, click on verify ownership. that will allow you to access the county ownership records (search by last name only). Most of the homes here at this point are in Sumter county. Always good to check.

[mowdie]

Originally Posted by STLRAY

I am planning to rent a house in TV soon and it occurs to me that I am about to send a five figure check to a stranger who posted pictures and a description of a house on a website. The person does not need to actually own a house to post these pictures and collect checks from multiple strangers. Am I being paranoid or is this a real risk? I know lots of people have been ripped off on adds for cars on E-bay and Craigslist. Do the people operating these websites confirm that the person listing the rental actually owns or manages the properties they are advertising?

One of the most important things, verify that the rental property is absolutely going to include village resident IDs. You might hv to pay $50 for them but without them you will be very upset. We agreed on a three month rental, getting ready to send the check and asked about the IDs. Owner said they are not giving up their IDs for this property but don’t worry we will have guest passes.... no thanks... no free ex golf and many other things