Are You Being Scammed By Your Property Manager?

If you’ve ever had a rental home that you needed to hire a property manager for then you know firsthand how important hiring a trusted Tucson property manager is. It’s their job to make sure your investment is being well-maintained inside and out, to take care of repairs, and to locate suitable tenants to occupy your space. But what happens when the property manager you’ve hired turns out to be a fraud? Statewide, landlords and tenants alike have come forward with claims of losing money from hiring fraudulent property managers. Ask yourself these questions below to find out; are you being scammed by your property manager?

A property management scam takes place when someone claiming to be a property manager implements a purposeful scheme to deceive and defraud you out of money. And one of the most popular schemes is the multiple renters scam. This happens when a false property manager rents out a space meant for a single tenant to multiple tenants collecting first and last month’s rent without even so much as handing them the keys. They can usually pull off this heist by creating a showing and move-in schedule so that the location can be “occupied” by five or more tenants. With this strategy, a con artist could easily skip town with over $10,000 of rent payments in their pocket before tenants even know what hit them, leaving them without cash or a place to live. So what can you do?

If you’re a landlord looking to hire a Tucson property manager the first thing you should do is do a background check. An established property management companyshould have an Arizon real estate license, website, social media outlets, working phone numbers, references, and affiliations. Research state and county records to make sure the company is legitimate. Ask to see identification and then search local government websites and the Better Business Bureau to insure there’s nothing fishy associated with that name.

If they’re a viable property management company in Tucson they will have some sort of track record and will not be evasive when you ask them for references and information. Listen to your gut and do ignore the red flags. It’s not worth risking your money, your property, or your time to deal with a property management scammer. And if you or someone you know has been victimized by a falseproperty manager call the police immediately. You can also contact the Arizona Department of Real Estate if you’ve been treated unfairly, your property manager stops responding to your inquiries or if you’ve experienced a financial loss.

If you have any questions about how to avoid property management scams or are looking for an honest Tucson property management company to work with, please