Danger when looking for a property

Warning of new scam by rental fraudsters

(Bild: ©InsideCreativeHouse - stock.adobe.com)

Rental scammers are currently up to mischief in Vienna, offering cheap apartments via real estate platforms that do not even belong to them. In reality, the apartments are only rented online on Airbnb for a short time. The victims are being robbed of deposits and redemption payments.

Anyone currently looking for a rental apartment in Vienna should watch out: Because a serial fraudster is currently going around - there may even be two or three of them - offering apartments on online real estate portals (especially on willhaben.at) that don't even belong to him. In reality, he only rents them himself at short notice via the online booking platform Airbnb. He then hires people, e.g. students, who - without knowing that they are involved in a scam - show the apartments at viewing appointments. In order to appear professional, the fraudster also looks for real estate companies that actually exist but are not represented on the Internet and creates fake websites using their names.

The fraudster looks for real estate companies that actually exist but have no online presence and uses their names to build fake websites to make the victims believe they are serious.

(Bild: Галя Дорожинська - stock.adobe.com)

Interested parties are faced with a locked door when the keys are handed over
As everything looks legitimate, more and more Viennese and people from the provinces who move to Vienna are falling into the trap. Because the rent offered is usually relatively low, prospective tenants are urged to quickly pay the deposit, a deposit for the furniture and, for example, the first month's rent. When the keys are handed over, however, they are faced with closed doors - no one comes and they are left out of pocket. The website has already been deleted and all the contacts provided no longer work.

Tips from the tenants' association

The tenants' association asks people looking for an apartment in Vienna to be extra careful. If possible, do not make any payments before handing over the keys and pay attention to the following things when renting an apartment:

• Do not pay the deposit until the keys are handed over.

• Ask for an identity card from the estate agent or property manager when viewing the apartment or before signing the rental agreement.
• If you are viewing a furnished apartment, check whether any of the tenant's (previous tenant's) personal belongings are visible in the apartment. If you find cutlery in the kitchen cupboard, for example, be careful - it may just be an Airbnb apartment.
• If you have the opportunity, talk to other residents or the janitor of the building before or after the viewing.

Elke Hanel-Torsch, Chairwoman of the Vienna Tenants' Association, advises "only paying when the apartment is handed over". If the deposit is requested in advance, "you should be suspicious as a tenant"! In any case, you should never allow yourself to be pressured into paying a deposit quickly. And in the case of commercial landlords, Hanel-Torsch says: "It is the exception that a landlord sells you furniture as a tenant. Furniture rent is usually charged for furnished apartments."

Elke Hanel-Torsch, Chairwoman of the Vienna Tenants' Association, gives advice: "It is customary to pay the deposit only when the apartment is handed over. If the deposit is requested in advance, tenants should be suspicious!"

(Bild: Stefan Burghart)

When the alarm bells should ring
If you want to obtain information about a real estate company, you can check here by entering the domain name. If the website has only recently been created or changed - you can see this under "changed" - then the alarm bells should ring.

Gerald Gollenz, Chairman of the WKÖ Association of Real Estate and Property Trustees, also warns: "Without the assistance of qualified estate agents, tenants are hopelessly at the mercy of the market with all its disadvantages. This has increasingly expensive and dramatic consequences, as the number of scams on the rental housing market is on the rise. It is not uncommon for tenants to pay deposits and cancel their old apartment for a non-existent scam offer."