How to recognize a fraudulent realtor: all fraud schemes, expert advice

How realtors deceive probably only lazy people who didn’t write about it. But not many real stories and already familiar schemes have been written about how cunning, dishonest clients deceive and swindle their realtors out of money.

Real estate agents themselves do not like to talk about it, that one of their clients was able to deceive them, and they are certainly not willing to talk about it. After all, realtors themselves consider themselves guarantors of everything, in conversation they operate in unfamiliar terms, flaunt their excellent knowledge of the Law, but as it turns out, they are not always immune from unpleasant surprises, for example, such as a scam or deception on the part of their client.

What kind of client is being deceived? The realtor asked for it himself!

In principle, the subtitle of the paragraph speaks for itself, and the whole meaning is spelled out in it, and there seems to be nothing left to add, but I still think it’s worth explaining how everything happens.

Basically, unpleasant stories involving non-payment of commission, deception and outright scams occur when a realtor imposes his services on a client.

A typical situation is that the owner of an apartment independently advertises the sale of his apartment on the Internet. Agents are piling on him from all sides with offers of assistance in sales and cooperation. In a competitive race, realtors often make fatal mistakes for themselves, accept powerless terms of cooperation, and generally do not cover their own rear in any way, as long as the owner agrees to work with them. Some offer super methods for emergency sales of apartments, others say that the services of a realtor for the seller are free, and they will not cost anything at all - the commission will be thrown on top, and it will be paid by the home buyer, others are ready to work without an official exclusive agreement - on the ears of the owner A lot of nonsense is being thrown around, everything is done and said to get the competitor out of the way...

In general, all this unhealthy movement around the apartment owner itself pushes him to the idea of cheating the realtor for money at one fine moment. In a professional environment - this is called working for competitors, this type of cooperation and the process itself is associated with huge risks for the realtor - the owner’s contacts are in the public domain or many have them, competitors can steal the client from under their noses at any time, several agencies sell the apartment at once, no one gives anyone 100% reinforced concrete guarantees; both beginners and experienced ones work at their own peril and risk...

Placing non-existent objects on notice boards

This method cannot be called fraud; rather, it is misleading a potential buyer. Most often, a realtor's goal is to attract potential clients.

The scheme is as follows:

A good apartment (or other real estate) is posted on bulletin boards (most often on Avito) at a very competitive price.
The realtor adds fake or other people’s photos (or of a property that has already been sold). More experienced people post a lot of photos and write a detailed description of the object, while amateurs limit themselves to 1-2 photos and a brief description.
A stir is created around the property and you have an irresistible desire to buy cool real estate cheap.
You call based on the ad or contact via chat on the site - and here there are most likely 2 scenarios: the realtor immediately says that the property is sold and obsessively offers another (supposedly similar) or says that the ad is relevant and invites you to the office (or to meet in another place).
You are invited to the office or offered a meeting on the street (supposedly near the facility).
An inexperienced realtor will try not to answer your questions and quickly persuade you to meet in person. An experienced one will have answers to frequently asked questions, but will also focus on viewing the property
You come to the meeting in a good mood and then it turns out that the property has already been sold or a deposit has already been paid for it. The realtor, in order to look like an honest person, says that the property was purchased from minute to minute and he did not have time to inform you. Of course, such a situation may well happen and it is not a fact that this is a deceiver.
And here the fun begins - the realtor begins to persuade you to look at similar options , which in his opinion are no worse, and maybe even better than the current one. Most often they try to push you into a less profitable option or a problematic object. But there are situations when a realtor offers good options (but still less profitable).
An alternative way of developing an event is the situation with a deposit. As a rule, demanding a deposit on the street urgently is the first sign of fraud.
Success for a realtor will be to persuade you to look at his other properties , but in the case of a deposit, they will simply cheat you and you will never see the money again.

What should you do to avoid becoming a victim of a fraudulent realtor? The resulting action plan specifically for this scheme is described below.

I cheated the agent - I deceived the realtor

I am sometimes amazed at how much nerve you have to muster to call one realtor with an offer to scam another!

The other day a madam called and said that through a realtor they are selling a 2-room apartment on Sukharevka near the Red Gate, the price of a quarter apartment is 25 million rubles. It goes on to say that the buyer will find it, the agent helped urgently collect the necessary package of documents for money, an advance has already been made, the day of the transaction has been set.

AND??? What is required of me in this situation?! Everything has already been done! What do you want from me?

So calmly, she tells me that it seems to her that the realtor charges too much for his services.

And when they started selling, didn’t you think so? Was the commission initially announced to you?

During the further conversation, it became clear that the terms of cooperation and the size of the commission were known to her in advance, that the realtor had been selling the apartment for more than a year, and that she was just a greedy creature who wanted to cheat her realtor. During the conversation, more than once I was tempted to hang up because I was disgusted to talk to her. The only reason why I didn’t do this right away was an attempt to find out the coordinates of the doomed realtor and warn her. But I failed to do such a noble deed. The greedy lady did not want to split up to the last - no exact address, no names, did not say anything that could identify her. As a result, a telephone conversation with a lady who did not want to pay ended with my categorical refusal. Only in the depths of my soul could I hope that the cunning lady could not achieve her goal and did not cheat on her realtor...

How to act so as not to waste time and not miss a profitable object

When calling by phone, persistently ask the seller (it doesn’t matter if it’s the owner or the realtor) whether the offer and the price are relevant. If the seller assures that the object is really being sold at this price, warn him that you are not considering other options (if this is indeed the case) and you are interested in this particular object.
Immediately ask if the property has any legal restrictions or problems (for example, with heating or sewerage).
Ask the seller directly whether he is a representative of a real estate agency or is engaged in private real estate activities. If this is an agency, look at their website and read the reviews (you can also read reviews about a private realtor by typing his initials into a search engine).
Exact address - not all realtors are ready to disclose the exact address and there is one reason for this - this is his job and he is not interested in you buying real estate directly from the owner because in this case he will not receive a commission. This is normal practice, but you have the right to know the street intersection. Some divulge the exact address of the house or even apartment. All information received must be carefully checked and analyzed.
You search the phone number through search engines and if you find negative reviews about the seller’s activities, carefully analyze them. Very often, realtors, when competing, write negative reviews to each other in order to win over clients for themselves. The best way out of this situation is to call the seller back and ask him about the negative reviews found. Based on the answer received, you can form an initial opinion. Even the best realtor may have negative reviews - this is normal, because you can’t please everyone. Your own intuition will help you in this matter. But experienced deceiving realtors use clean phone numbers, information about which is not available on the Internet.
E-mail is another way to catch a scammer in the hand. Inexperienced lovers of easy money forget to change their email, and you can read reviews about its recipient - again through search engines.
You take all of the above steps before meeting with a realtor. If the seller does not raise any concerns, go to a meeting and see the property.
An important point is that it is better to call from a new phone number that was purchased for the purpose of calling through advertisements. We do not recommend using a personal number, because realtors, scammers and other undesirable persons will call you endlessly. You can use a virtual number (for example, Tinkoff Mobile or Yota have the ability to change numbers frequently without purchasing a new SIM card).
If you are invited to an office, it is most often a real estate agency. There is nothing terrible here - except wasted time. When entering the office, immediately make sure that the object of interest really exists. If excuses and stories about the sold property begin, turn around and leave. Don’t forget to add such realtors to the blacklist on your mobile phone (you can help other people and write a negative review about their activities on special sites).
Of course, if you come to the agency and there is a polite realtor in front of you and he assures that there is an object that is no worse than the one sold, you should listen to him. Perhaps this is true and you can actually buy real estate at a profit. However, if you are intrusively offered to go and look at this supposedly similar object without disclosing details (except for the exact address), do not agree (most likely you will not see anything profitable there)
If you are offered a meeting on the street (supposedly near the property) or in another place, most likely this is a private realtor and this is a more dangerous option. If in an agency you very rarely come across fraudulent realtors, then a private realtor will scam you very easily.
Before any viewing of a property, you need to look at the approximate prices of real estate in the area (so that you are not sold a home at an inflated price).
You need to repeatedly ask the seller about any problems with the property. In most cases, deceiving realtors hide the legal or physical problems of the property until the very end. At a minimum, you will waste a lot of time, at a maximum you will have a lot of problems. Clarify every moment, do not hesitate to be meticulous.
You can look at similar properties (in a sold situation) only with a realtor who inspires trust and follows business ethics. Just ignore everyone else.
Let's consider the option when the realtor says that a deposit has already been paid for the property. Perhaps he is not deceiving and someone really beat you to it (remember that the offer was really profitable). An honest realtor will not offer you to pay a larger deposit or to buy an apartment on an accelerated basis, but he may offer another property (since it is his job to sell). At this stage, never rush, even if you are convinced that there is no other such object in the city.
Separately, it is worth noting the situation with the deposit - the fraudster may demand a deposit on the spot (allegedly he has a buyer, but he wants to sell the property to you). Never give any deposit without documentary evidence, otherwise you risk saying goodbye to this money.
And one more small but important detail - for example, a woman’s initials are indicated in the ad, but when you call, a man answers (or vice versa) - this is a reason to additionally check the seller for fraud.

These were 17 simple tips that will help you recognize a fraudulent realtor and not waste your precious time.

A small digression: if you are looking for real estate in Krasnodar or the Krasnodar region, the KAYAN Housing Center will be happy to help. With us, you do not have to go through all the stages of checks according to the scheme described above - since all the objects we sell are real and the prices are indicated accurately. Even if this sounds like self-promotion, few agencies can boast of only real objects on the website, a truly honest approach and a working quality service (we work in the interests of the client).

Substitution of apartment addresses for fraudulent purposes

Here everything is much more serious because the buyer can lose a lot of money. We describe the entire scheme step by step:

A realtor (or a person posing as a realtor) wants to sell a damaged (problems with repairs) apartment at a high price. Addresses are replaced according to the following principle:
For example, an apartment without renovation or in need of major renovation is located at the address: st. Car enthusiasts 23 sq. 12 - our character wants to sell it at a high price. To do this, he rents a neighboring apartment (most often for one month), which is in excellent repair and often contains furniture and household appliances - ideally, this apartment is located on the same floor as the one for sale (for example, Avtolyubiteley str. 23, apt. 14).
The fraudster changes the sign with the apartment number on the door (both on the one being sold and on the one being rented) and naturally shows the buyer an apartment with excellent repairs, but according to the documents, he will try to sell exactly the destroyed one (the one without repairs).
The buyer does not notice the substitution and is ready to buy an apartment (most often apartments follow this scheme). An inexperienced fraudster will begin to rush through the registration of the apartment (this will help to recognize him).
The scammer is not always able to rent an apartment on the same floor or in the same building. Most often this is a neighboring house, since most people can quickly match the floor and apartment number. However, in high-rise buildings (16 or more floors), it is not always possible to immediately determine which apartment numbers correspond to the floor.
In the case described above, he will try to meet you not at the door of the object (as usually happens), but somewhere nearby in the area (for example, at a metro station). Then, using the car, you will be driven to a pre-prepared house to hide the catch. Most often this happens in residential areas - where the houses are identical.
After viewing, an agreement is concluded with you (where, of course, a valid address is indicated) and you become the “happy” owner of a destroyed apartment that requires huge investments while significantly overpaying.

The lawyer named the risks of buying a new apartment, which few people know about

As lawyer Irina Zuy reminds, in Russia the overwhelming majority of land belongs to the state represented by state authorities and municipalities. “For those territories where new buildings are being built, this is especially important, since today developers prefer not to buy out privately owned land, but to build on empty sites of former enterprises, institutions, landfills, and so on. In this case, the land is leased by the developer from the state,” the lawyer notes. Thus, it turns out that the house and housing in it will be on rented land. Can residents be evicted from such apartments?

“In fact, the land will be transferred to the shareholder’s ownership as an integral part of the common property; its possession is inextricably linked with the ownership of the apartment. Strictly speaking, most apartment buildings were built in exactly the same way, but no one worries about the ownership of apartments. The type of developer's right to land is indicated in the certificate of state registration of the right. This certificate also indicates the cadastral number of the plot, and the title documents for the land plot must be provided along with the application for a building permit. When issuing this application, the lessor's right to conclude a sublease agreement and the right to develop the land plot are verified.

Therefore, the most important thing is to pay attention to the terms of the contract. For example, if a developer leased land for business development and is building a residential apartment building, then this is a violation and can create big troubles for apartment buyers. The construction of residential buildings on agricultural and industrial sites is even more common.

Thus, the risks when purchasing an apartment in a house built or being built on a rented plot are determined by the terms of the specific lease agreement. This is what we need to build on. It is also worth noting that situations are common when developers do not comply with the terms of the investment agreement concluded between the developer and the land owner in terms of settlements with the latter. Often developers are obligated under an investment agreement to transfer part of the apartments to the land owner, but do not do this, but simply sell 100% of the apartments to citizens on the market, including those that must be given to the land owner.

This situation clearly entails a legal dispute, but the practice of the courts so far is not in favor of citizens: the courts transfer apartments already paid for by citizens to land owners,” said Irina Zuy.

How to avoid this? Before purchasing an apartment, it is necessary to ask the developer to provide evidence that he has fulfilled the terms of the investment contract to the land owner. There is no evidence - it is better not to buy an apartment from this developer.

The best option is to familiarize yourself with the developer’s land lease agreement and the investment contract before starting the apartment purchase procedure, involving a lawyer specializing in housing and land law for review. Indeed, in some situations, an ordinary buyer who does not have a legal education and experience in working with such contracts will not be able to identify potential risks and build a competent strategy according to them.

“And we remind you that you can only buy an apartment on the “primary” basis under an agreement of shared participation in construction (DDU), all other schemes - through a preliminary purchase and sale agreement, through the purchase of bills and others are illegal,” added Irina Zuy.

How to avoid getting into this situation and spot the scammer

Before viewing, use online maps to view the house in which you are going to buy an apartment. Determine where it is located relative to the streets and their intersections. The most complete information is provided by Yandex maps and 2GIS (not everything is immediately clear in Google maps). This way you will immediately understand that you are being taken to the wrong house.
The situation is more complicated if the apartments are located in the same building or on the same floor. Feel free to count the apartments and compare them with the floor , and also check the same plates with the number (they can also be compared by analogy with other floors). It’s better to be looked at as a fool than to become a victim of scammers.
Advice - arrive at the site in advance and study its location using maps on your mobile phone (geolocation).
Do not be distracted by conversations that are not related to the sale of the apartment. This is how scammers try to lull vigilance.
When you are satisfied with the apartment, do not rush to decorate it. Even if it is intrusive, you can ask your neighbors about their apartment (but they can also lie).

If you follow all the steps listed above, the chance of being deceived by this scheme tends to zero. But there is an even more sophisticated scheme, which will be discussed below.

Incompetent property owners

Quite an old method of fraud, although many still fall for this trick (with the help of realtors - scammers).

Detailed description of the scheme with incapacitated sellers:

The scammer finds a pensioner (or other incapacitated citizen) and offers him “easy money.” Finding a pensioner in need is not difficult.
The pensioner (or disabled person) agrees and enters into a conspiracy with the fraudster.
The fraudster places an advertisement for the sale of an apartment (or house) and can reduce the price to quickly find buyers. As a rule, the scammer is well versed in real estate and quickly finds people willing to purchase the property.
The buyer inspects the property, decides to purchase and enters into a transaction with an incapacitated citizen (who may appear to be capable).
Next, the incapacitated seller goes to court and asks to terminate the transaction - providing a certificate of incapacity. In most cases, the court sides with the pensioner.
The deceived buyers are asked to return part of the money and close the case in court. The majority agrees - as part of the money is better than losing the apartment and all the money.
An incapacitated citizen shares money with a fraudster, and the buyer is left with nothing .

In this way, a fraudster can sell the same apartment several times and make decent money.

How realtors are deceived when renting

I am sure that deceiving a realtor when renting is the most common type of fraud on the part of a client in the secondary market.

Clients come to view with a realtor, and later return to the apartment and try to negotiate with the owner directly - to move in without a realtor and commission to the intermediary. It should be noted with regret that in most cases, careless clients succeed in this. There are almost no respectable rental owners left, everyone is hungry for instant profit - everyone is rotten through and through, they don’t value friendship and connections...

Selling a home to multiple buyers at the same time

The method is designed for “fools” - but a cunning realtor-fraudster can easily deceive you using this scheme.

The scheme itself:

The object of sale, as a rule, is a good apartment at a good price - to create a stir. It is posted on message boards, sometimes with paid placement in the top block. To create more excitement, a scammer can write: urgent sale.
People quickly find an apartment and a queue of potential buyers is created , including you (after all, everyone wants to buy good housing at a good price).
The scammer deliberately invites a large number of people to watch at the same time. Often the arguments for such actions are: lack of time or the need to quickly leave the region.
The realtor insistently asks you to pay a deposit for the apartment and says that other buyers did not pay a deposit and he refused them.
Here the scammer’s task is to obtain a deposit from each buyer (ideally), while preventing them from contacting each other ahead of time. Then he simply disappears with the money.
As a result, you arrive at the purchased apartment and see that in addition to you, several other buyers have paid a deposit and signed documents.

Unsuccessful attempt to deceive a realtor

There was a case in practice. A client came in on a recommendation. I am selling a 3-room apartment in Izmailovo. Everything in a circle - first, analysis and analysis of the current situation, initial consultations with the client, preliminary assessment of the apartment, photo session, advertising, showings, signing an advance agreement, the transaction itself in the bank, transfer of the apartment to the new owner - in full. I danced with the clients, I was already tired, the family is still the same. I offer my client to pay me under the contract for the provision of real estate services and pay my commission of 150 thousand rubles. And he tells me that he doesn’t know me, he’s not going to sign any certificate of work performed under the agency agreement and he won’t pay anything.

Well, to hell with you, goldfish. I take this bull by the horns and start twisting them. I collect all the business correspondence with the negligent client from all sources - electronic and on paper, take witnesses - a photographer, bank employees, neighbors, concierge, and with an agency agreement I go to Obep. And then nothing short of a miracle happened: he regained his sight, remembered me and recognized me. The amnesia passed, and he tried to put it in reverse and make amends in the pre-trial proceedings. But for me it was already a matter of principle. During the process, the client tried more than once to make peace with me. Ultimately, I asked for the claim to recover 600 thousand rubles from the defendant, but received 350 - the client got off with only a slight double scare, a tuft of wool from a black sheep, I thought and calmed down on this...

How to avoid falling into a scheme with multiple buyers

It's simple - you don't need to give collateral. Yes, there are situations when you can give a deposit, for example, if the realtor is from a large agency. Before you give a deposit, be sure to:

Carefully read the real estate purchase and sale agreement
Check to see if there is a contract for the provision of real estate services (it must be in place, otherwise you may be scammed)
Check the documents for the property itself (owner documents)

To avoid mistakes, do not rush with the paperwork and the purchase of real estate in general.

I don’t want to pay the realtor - I want to throw it away

I don’t want to pay and won’t, and in general, I don’t know who you are, and I’m seeing you for the first time! These are the words that, after several months of work and official cooperation, a realtor can hear the moment the client receives his money in hand for the sold apartment. Sudden extensive amnesia is a common illness and diagnosis among resale sellers, which deceived realtors either do not want to treat the client or simply cannot...

They blatantly tell you to your face during the transaction or after it that they will not pay the previously agreed amount of the agent’s fee, fixed and fixed in the official contract for the provision of real estate services.

What can you say about them? Greedy low people, thought out a hundred moves ahead, who initially commit fraud! You will earn money from others! - this can be said to the realtor in response.

Impudent clients rely on the fact that the amount of possible loss of money is so insignificant and small that the agents will not run to the police or court because of it, they will simply be sorry for their time. We must pay tribute to the fact that in many cases the calculations of dishonest clients are justified - in most cases, realtors abandon the troublesome task of extracting a commission and let everything go on the brakes.

That is why realtors try to extract their commission from the client’s tenacious clutches already on the transaction, putting it in a separate safe deposit box or receiving it in hand under a letter of guarantee...

How to choose an honest and reliable realtor?

Because of the activities of “black realtors,” people began to have a bad attitude towards this specialty. Distrust (often unfounded) and non-constructive criticism towards honest realtors appeared. It is not always possible to find the right property at a favorable price from the owner, so you cannot completely refuse the services of a realtor.

The question arises: how to choose a good realtor who will not deceive? The following describes the features of choosing a real estate specialist.

Realtors in a large agency are more reliable , since their actions are controlled by the company. As a rule, transactions with such agents are insured and you do not risk anything.
Realtors have their own certification. If a realtor (or agency) has been certified, there are more reasons to trust them than realtors from the street. You can check the certification on the website of the Russian Guild of Realtors - https://reestr.rgr.ru/
Be sure to check the realtor’s documents - passport details, TIN, etc. for legal purity.
An honest realtor will work only under a contract. In the contract, he will indicate: the amount of the commission for a successful transaction and the responsibility of the parties.
A competent specialist will be able to guarantee the legal purity of the object in the contract.
A good realtor has a lot of properties , since a large number of people trust him.
Pay attention to the negotiation style - a good specialist will be immediately visible.
Check information about your realtor (not about the agency, but about a specific realtor) on the Internet - if there are negative reviews - about them before concluding a contract.

These are the main points you should pay attention to when choosing a realtor. In conclusion, here are some tips for completing real estate transactions:

Do not chase low prices (in most cases this is a scam)
Check all documents yourself several times (to avoid substitution)
Before buying or selling real estate, study the market, compare your property with other offers. You should be aware of the pricing policies in your area.
Any transfer of funds must be legally formalized.
Do not chase after real estate that has a buzz around it (as a rule, these are scammers).

These simple tips will help you avoid falling for the tricks of fraudulent realtors and purchase real estate without any problems.

It’s fashionable to deceive and cheat a realtor

In the market for the provision of real estate services, a rotten layer of clients has formed that initially consciously commits fraud, regularly uses the services of realtors and constantly does not pay them - they cheat them out of money. A good half of these clients are ghouls, failed real estate agents themselves, who began their journey in such a complex profession and abandoned this troublesome and risky business. The other half of this rotten layer are nonentities, filled with a sense of their own superiority. Cheating a realtor for money has become fashionable among clients. Read what they write on forums and on social networks, how deceivers flaunt and boast about successful facts of fraud when they cheated their realtor...