In much the same way that Kansas City taxpayers are asked to subsidize luxury living space with no real community benefit overall, consumers are also targeted by landlords with big promieses.
Take a look:
Million Dollar Scam: Rental Fraud Costs 5.2 Million U.S. Renters
Exclusive highlights from TKC news partners:
- 20.8% of Kansas City metro renters have encountered a listing they suspected was fraudulent, and 2.1% have lost money on a rental scam
- Nationwide, 17.6% of renters who lost money due to rental fraud lost over $2,000
- In one type of fraud, a real rental is listed as having features and amenities it lacks in order to collect a higher rent (aka rental market “catfishing”). The most commonly lied about amenities are 1) Laundry, 2) Heat/AC and 3) Outdoor Space
Read the entire study here . . .
Developing . . .
It's a good way to think of the over-promises and rent tricks. Not to mention the lack of full disclosure by most properties.
ReplyDeleteRending in Kansas City is a nightmare, there are way too many scammers out there and the renters are getting to be insane. $1100 minimum to live anywhere near Westport or the Plaza and anything less is a rathole with major security issues.
DeleteThere's all this talk about affordable housing for the east side but it's really needed right here in Midtown, too. There is some major price gouging going on here and very few people are willing to talk about it.
^^ Try to get Slie to address affordable housing or crime and see how far you get especially if you are not talking about downtown. Keep in mind one of Slie's main agenda items is to remove all the blight and anything that stains downtown away from downtown. Things like the jail, homeless, low income housing, homeless shelters, and the list goes on. Also, a few months ago the city determined that somewhere around $1200 to $1300 per month was affordable housing. This strongly helps his agenda item.
ReplyDeleteHow about this rental fraud that I heard about through a fellow landlord. Some landlord in Grandview advertised an apartment at 25% or so below market rate. It was an actual place with accurate photos and showings happened. Collected $1,200 in application fees at $35 a pop and didn't process a single application.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea. Do people actually pay application fees? I haven't been a legitimate renter since college. I guess that's something I should consider doing.
DeleteHow dare these private property owners get into the rental fraud business!
ReplyDeleteDon't they understand that scams, hype, empty promises, insider deals, and outright fraud are reserved for Sly and the gang and their favorite supporters and contributors?
Don't tread on the grifters' turf!
Tough titty said the kitty
ReplyDelete...but the milk's still good...
DeleteIf this rental fraud isn't bad enough there was an attorney named t.brownlee who allegedly was just as outrageous. This dude allegedly targeted low income renters who were told to move if they couldnt pay and they moved from these dunghole apartments before being served summons. It was later discovered brownlee and his cohorts would send out the same process server to serve summons for court. The scam revealed the same process server was listed on court records for multiple folks that lived at different apartments. Allegedly Addresses were miles apart. Funny thing most folks were allegedly never served and court records all listed the exact same date and time for service which is impossible and fraudulent. Allegedly court records show all were served on the same date and time by same process server. These evictions cases were then in court and the judges allowed fraud accessing outrageous fees to now victims who as punishment had this added. Of course folks never came to court because they were never served as further punishment To credit history. The owners of these dunghole apartments were out of the Midwest. Folks believed this allowed scam to go forward as to show big loss for tax write off. In one case an outside judge from small Missouri town brought in allegedly to participate in alleged eviction scam. Brownlee allegedly knew folks were never served but they conducted case as if they had and showed service for lots of folks by same process server as stated. Wow..
ReplyDeleteAbout ten years ago I met with a tenant in a Clay County courthouse arbitration room. The tenant was behind on two months rent and had no intention of paying because I ended his month-to-month lease after learning he had three families living in my property. He told the arbitration rep that I could afford it because landlords are rich. I spent a month cleaning up and rehabbing the unit he destroyed. I spent thousands of dollars on repairs. I found nuts and bolts in the garbage disposal, feces in every furnace vent, and underwear clogging the toilet. Every screen in the house missing or destroyed. I'm used to it. I fixed the damage and moved on. But, I do background checks on all tenants now, including eviction reports, court records searches, and credit report. It's helped 100%. If I sign a lease with the tenant, I reimburse the fee. If their report comes back with eviction info, past due rent issues, or poor credit, they are just out the $35 for the application fee.
ReplyDelete