Rental scams are on the rise across the province and Northwestern Ontario is no exception. The Northwest Community Legal Clinic has just launched their “Rental Scam Awareness” campaign with a series of posters on their windows at 206 Scott Street in Fort Frances and on their Facebook page.
A common rental scam is when a scammer poses as a landlord and posts an ad for a real rental property in the area. The scammer shares their contact information instead of the real landlord’s information. Potential tenants are than asked for either a rental application fee or a first and last months rent deposit in order to be eligible for the apartment. The scammer walks away with that money and the tenant finds out the scammer had no association with the real rental property.
Rental scams disproportionally affect low-income people, young people and seniors as those individuals that are more likely to rent rather than own in Northern Ontario.
“A rental application fee is required” is also a potential scam. Ontario Law generally does not allow landlords to charge application fees. This could be an indication that the Landlord is a scammer. If the landlord is legitimate this could indicate they are not following the Residential Tenancies Act. The Residential Tenancies Act is the Ontario Law that outlines the rights and responsibility of landlords and tenants in residential properties across the province.
A major concern about application fees, even when the landlord is legitimate, is that although the fee is likely illegal to charge, a tenant who refuses to pay it may be excluded from consideration for the property. With the shortage of housing and rental opportunities this could mean tenants are without housing. Tenants will need to use their best judgement as to when they should pay an application fee given the high rates of scams in the area and the lack of rental housing available. Tenants may have to make the difficult decision to pay the application fee despite the risks.
Some tips and wise practices when looking for rental places are:
- Request a viewing of the property in person
- Do a walk by of the property to make sure the pictures you see online really exist in your community
- Compare advertised monthly rental with those in the area. If it is much lower than nearby units of similar size it could be a scam.
- Search the landlord and listing online to see if the property has different owners names associated with it or if there are reviews about the landlord online
- If it’s too good to be true – it probably is.
In the north people are very trusting of others and often think that they are safe from scammers because of where we live. The reality is in the digital age any one can perpetuate a scam from any where in the world and target Northwestern Ontario.
Take steps to protect yourself and make sure any rental opportunity is legitimate.
If you think you’ve been scammed please report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre or the Ontario Provincial Police.
The Northwest Community Legal Clinic has three offices in Fort Frances, Atikokan and Kenora and strives to provide quality legal services in the areas of housing law and social assistance.
This press release is for information purposes only and should not be understood as legal advice.
