Quote:
Originally Posted by Frequitude
Not as of yet! Go on......
The message did seem a little fishy:
It was a response to my craigslist posting. Now I definitely think it's a scam. Kinda ashamed I briefly fell for it if true. Thoughts?
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Don't be embarassed, but that is definitely somebody phishing. DO NOT send them any more communications or personal information. Report this incident to the bank if you have sent them any info with respect to your accounts.
I got 6 phishing e-mails like this after posting my condo for rent on craigslist for a week... it was brutal. It is probably more worthwhile to post an add in the newspaper after being through this once myself. My craigslist and rent faster ads only generated one genuine hit... It turned out to be my tenant right now but that is not enough to choose from if you ask me. I will be posting an ad in the paper next time I have a vacancy.
As for a rental agreement, PM me for my e-mail address, I can send you one. Have it looked over by a lawyer if you like. I basically typed out an old paper copy of one provided by the Alberta Renters Association (or something like that). Rent faster also has a version that is similar. I picked up a book called "The Essentail Landlord's Kit" that had a bunch of different sheets, but I only really used it for the damage inspection report form.
MAKE SURE YOU READ THE RENTAL TENANCIES ACT BEFORE YOU SIGN OR HAVE ANYONE SIGN YOUR RENTAL TENANCY AGREEMENT. You may have already done this, but I need to make sure that you have done this.
Make sure that you get their Social Insurance Numbers and permission to run a credit check in writing. Also, a rental history check is nice. You can perform both an equifax and transunion credit check (the two major credit bureaus in Canada), as well as a rental history report by registering at
www.rentcheckcorp.com. In order to be able to qualify as a landlord with Equifax or TransUnion, which will allow you to go straight to them for reports, you need to have something like 30 tenants total (or something like that). I just did this last month and it cost $130.
Be sure to conduct a damage inspection with the tenant BEFORE giving them the keys to the house. This is for both of your sakes.
You also need to deposit their damage deposit in an interest bearing account. I just plonked mine into a one-year GIC at Royal Bank that technically matures in one year, but you can cash it out after 30 days without interest penalty. Which for me was suitable as my tenants are on month-to-month right now.
Duplicate all keys. Keep all of your receipts.