Avoiding Rental Scams 101

Protect yourself and your investments.

Our mission is to empower independent landlords to create welcoming rental experiences through positive interactions with their tenants.

The rental experience begins the moment a property manager decides to fill a vacancy and a renter starts their rental search. Often, the early stages of the rental process are when rental scams are most viable.

At Smartlord.ai, we’re dedicated to protecting both property owners and renters from rental scams – a situation that is never positive for anyone.

How does Smartlord.ai help you avoid rental scams?

  • Verify all real estate listings before marketing them online.
  • Utilize machine learning to help identify fraudulent rental property listings.
  • Partnering with leaders in the financial industry, such as Stripe, to keep payment information private.

Is this listing a scam? Let our AI take a look.

Paste a listing URL, the listing description, or a message you received. Our model checks it against the most common rental fraud patterns. You stay in control, we just flag what looks off.

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AI suggests, you decide. Always verify in person before sending money.

Rental Scam Tips For Landlords

Common rental scams don’t just put potential renters at risk, but can also affect the landlord or property owner. Be very cautious of potential tenants who…

  • Are willing to rent your property without seeing it in person or completing a video tour first.
  • Say they are out of the country and want to send a cashier’s check.
  • Provide an initial payment or first month’s rent that is more than the agreed-upon price.

Rental Scam Tips For Renters

Don’t get desperate or impatient when apartment hunting, because that’s when red flags can fly by unnoticed. Be very cautious if the property seems “too good to be true” – it probably is:

  • An unrealistically low price for the monthly rent.
  • Requires no tenant screening, credit check, background check, or application.
  • Never (ever) wire transfer money. This is a sure sign that you’re encountering a scam. Wired money cannot be retrieved, just like cash.

Report a fake or suspicious listing

Send it to our Trust & Safety team. We review every report by hand. Nothing is taken down automatically.

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Or email [email protected] directly.