Boston real estate scams
Boston Condos for Sale
Boston real estate scams
Things are getting real for Real Brokerage agent Rob Harris.
The Mahwah, New Jersey, police have issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with theft and credit card fraud alleged in a civil lawsuit filed by Christie’s International agent Christina LaBarbiera,
The warrant comes three weeks after The Real Deal wrote about the lawsuit, in which LaBarbiera accused Harris of scamming her out of $70,000.
According to LaBarbiera, Harris told a detective that he would turn himself in, though he had allegedly ignored previous outreaches from authorities, did not acknowledge LaBarbiera’s lawsuit, and changed his phone number.
The story began last April, when Harris and LaBarbiera met on Hinge. By that summer, the couple was house-hunting together in Florida. Harris told LaBarbiera he put in an offer on a $1.5 million unit and soon began asking her for money, under the auspices of wanting to minimize his expenses while the mortgage application was being reviewed.
LaBarbiera sent him more than $70,000 that fall. Harris assured her several times he would pay her back, going so far as to show her a bank account he said was his with a $720,000 balance.
LaBarbiera sent him the money and canceled her trip, in part because Harris was due back in New Jersey two days later. She went to the airport to pick him up with a pack of his favorite cupcakes.
But he never showed up, claiming to have been robbed at gunpoint and to have lost his wallet and ID. He also said he took the fall for an unregistered gun that police found in the car he was in, but that charges would be dropped.
She never saw Harris again, though they texted several times. LaBarbiera warned him she would be pursuing criminal charges. Harris promised to pay her back in November.
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The ancient notion of “Buyer beware,” or caveat emptor, is particularly important when it comes to Boston real estate. While the property market has become probably one the most documented markets available, buying homes still offer fertile fields for scammers and those looking to run off with people’s hard-earned money. So, for anyone looking to dive into the real estate market, a couple of key factors are critical for protecting one’s money as well as obligations in a home loan before becoming a statistic as well.
Boston real estate scams
Avoid “Private” Real Estate Sales
The traditional method of listing a Boston condo for sale is through a real estate agent and public listing. This is the type of home sale most people see in real estate sale systems and newspaper ads. However, private sales are quite possible as well, and many times they seem attractive by cutting out the commission fee costs associated with a standard real estate agent and broker being involved. Unfortunately, private sales also offer great opportunities for scammers to steal people’s money. The typical routine involves selling a home at an amazing off-list price when the seller doesn’t even own the home or have title to it. Craigslist has been a common online platform for these scams. With a few opportune showing dates, a few lies about being an agent, and the scammer can easily dupe a buyer into believing a home sale is legit. Then, when the sale goes through with little paperwork and an upfront payment, the buyer finds the money is gone and the home was never for sale, a double-loss.
Fishy Real Estate Down Payments
Even if a real estate sale follows a legitimate process, ridiculous down payments and “holding” deposits are common and used by less-than-professional real estate agents to make extra income. Many first-time buyers get snagged by this scam, especially in new housing developments. In many cases, the money does nothing for the sale, and it operates simply as a fee to have an opportunity to buy a home. It’s applied the most during very hot markets where homes are going in minutes after listing or being made available in new subdivisions. Because the deposit hold fee is contractual and agreed to by the parties, it doesn’t meet the letter of illegality, but it definitely isn’t ethical in real estate sales.
Real Estate Title Theft
You’ve probably seen the commercials about title insurance and preventing title theft and thought somebody was making it up. However, this scam is very real and happens all too often. Worse, it doesn’t even need to engage with a buyer. Title theft involves filing a fake title change to a property with the local government office that records home titles and their official owners. This is literally the legal record of who owns a house. When the fake transaction goes through, the real owner doesn’t get a notice, and the fake owner can then turn around and sell the home quickly. These sales move quickly in hypermarkets where people buy homes unseen. Then the scammer runs off with the fake sale money, and the real homeowner gets a headache trying to recover his home title again. Title insurance is often included in a home sale, but continued insurance after a sale is needed to keep the protection in place. With the Internet making it easier to send false representations to consumers and agencies recording titles, it’s only a matter of time before title theft goes digital.
Real Estate Foreclosure Relief
Few things are more frustrating and anxiety-ridden than the threat of losing one’s home. And when foreclosure notices arrive due to delinquent loan payments, then the threat of losing a home becomes very real. With at least 80% of homes being more than 20 years old in the U.S., the high majority of folks have life attachments to their houses. So, people panic and jump on whatever they can to get out of trouble, and this is where scammers step in. They know from public records who is in foreclosure, so victims are easy to target. And they pounce quick with offers to bail people out and solve their problems, but there’s a catch. The victim has to pay a “service” fee for the help upfront. When that happens, the help and the fee disappear, and the person is deeper in the hole. It’s a bit ironic; there’s plenty of advice telling people to inspect their roof every three to five years, but nobody gives much advice on how to get out of foreclosure. And that makes it easy for scammers to step in.
With the amount of money involved in real estate growing, scammers aren’t going to disappear. So folks have to be prepared by knowing what to look for. Awareness and prevention are really the best defense, and that will continue well past 2021.
Boston Condos for Sale
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In today’s Boston condo buying tips episode you’ll learn the top 5 real estate scams so you don’t get tricked!
With roughly 1.3M real estate agents across the USA (2018) most of us are on the up and up seeking opportunities to provide exemplary service with integrity. Yet, a small contingent of agents, those posing as agents, and other fraudsters seek to employ shady real estate tactics to trick people out of their hard-earned money.
So this video has the top real estate scams to know about as you move forward with buying, selling, or renting a Boston condo. Over the past few years, real estate phishing has become more prevalent with increasing sophistication by scam artists. Beware that you may come across real estate scams on leading websites, such as:
1. Real estate scams craigslist
2. Real estate scams for sale by owner
3. Real estate scams on Zillow.
Fortunately, by following the advice in this episode about real estate scams to avoid, you’ll know exactly how to recognize when something is right and how to outwit con job.
Whether you are selling, buying, or renting a condo, always google real estate agents to verify their reputation and work with a top trusted real estate advisor in your area to avoid issues with most of our largest investment, our homes.
