First time renters

When I first moved into an apartment there were a lot of things I didn't know about, so I didn't take steps to protect myself. I was luck, my landlord was a good guy and I had no issues. My friend however who was in the same boat was not so lucky, her landlord cheated her out of her deposit.

• Before you agree to move in, make sure that you look around the apartment, make sure there are no issues and matches what you expected. Its not uncommon for crooked landlords to use a bait and switch, where they advertise the best apartment and you sign the lease you find yourself in one that is far less nice.
• Make sure to look over you lease. Leases can vary, and its important that you know what is in yours, otherwise it could cost you money or get you evicted. 
• Take pictures before you move in. If there are any areas with wear and tear, its important you get them. Otherwise you could run the risk of having your deposit deducted for something that is already there.
• Make sure that any problems are taken care of before you move it. If that is not possible, get your landlord's promise to fix it in writing.
• Read up on your tenant landlord laws. You don't need to be an expert, but its a good idea to know your basics in order to protect yourself.
• Make sure you know who to contact in case of a problem and how. The last thing you want is to find you apartment flooded and you unable to find anyone to help.
• Make sure that your windows and doors can be locked securely, especially in not so nice areas.

Find apartments in Canada

Is that ad to good to be true?

Renting Scams

There are everywhere. Craigslist is a popular hot spot thought there are others out there. 

I had someone use one of the apartments in my complex as a part of their scam. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable position to be in. There are some obvious warning signs
1.bad or choppy english
2. owner out of country
3. no one able to let you check it out
4.no questions about your background
5. price sounds too good to be true

6. They ask you to western union the money

Let me say as a landlord I'm going to write any emails as professionally as possible, because it is a business transaction. You want to sound like your taking this seriously and know what your doing. 

Owner out of country should be a big warning sign. Most landlords who are too far away to manage their property hire property managers for a reason. Generally for things like showing the apartment, taking care of issues and maintaining the property.

Either way you should always be able to view the place before you rent it. Even if it isn't this kind of scam there is always a risk renting before you see the place. 4. Another thing to look out for is lack of interest in things like criminal record, credit and other background information. Any decent landlord is going to be looking for this, shoot many applications now ask you to sign off to allow tenant screening. Only someone who doesn't care what happens to the property would bother to look into your background. Definitely should set off warning bells. So too should any request to western union money. 

 If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

Avoiding Rental Scams

In this day and age it can be difficult to determine a scam from a good deal. So many rental scams have take over popular sites like craigslist, causing many people to be wary of using the internet to find apartments, despite the fact that it offers the most options.

However there are sites out there that offer better, safer options to tenants looking for rentals. For example, if you were looking for an apartment in Canada, I would recommend using the Canadian Rental Guide. These smaller sites, are focused only on rentals and have better listing requirements making them far less likely to be hit by scammers.