An increasing number of vulnerable Tasmanians are getting caught up in rental scams, with sector insiders warning that scamming predators are getting more brazen in their attempts to fleece innocent victims of their money.
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Homeless mother Stacey Lodge placed notices on Facebook and Gumtree and posted flyers in streets to secure a home for her and her two children, and said she started her search with a cautious approach.
When her advertisements were answered with the offer of a property Ms Lodge said she was "over the moon" and wanted to quickly take advantage of the offer for a home.
She said she physically viewed the house with a man, who was suited up and looked legitimate, paid a $1000 cash bond and two weeks rent in advance, and was handed a bond receipt and keys to the property.
Ms Lodge said she moved into the house only to be approached two weeks later by a group of people ordering her to move and telling her that they were the owners of the property.
"I signed a contract, paid $1000 bond and two weeks rent, and 10 days later I had the police come and tell me that I was trespassing," she said.
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"I had moved everything in there, I was just getting my kids settled and next minute people rocked up telling me to get out.
"Now I'm couch surfing with my kids. It is not the best, but I have no other options at the moment. I've been looking everywhere for private rentals, I'm on priority lists for housing."
Tenants Union of Tasmania principal solicitor Ben Bartl said Ms Lodge's situation was becoming increasingly common.
"From around the beginning of this year, we have noticed a lot more calls from tenants who have either been scammed, or are potential scam victims, who call us before they pay any money."
He said anyone looking to rent must never hand over a bond to private landlords.
"No bond should ever be paid to a landlord, it always has to be paid either to an accredited real estate agent or to the rental deposit authority," he said.
"The other point is you should never sign an agreement, or pay funds either rent in advance or bond, without viewing the property."
Mr Bartl said scammers were becoming bolder in their attempts to scam others.
"Scammers are getting cleverer in their attempts to scam tenants of their money. Whereas in the past it might just have been scamming on Facebook posts, now some scammers are brazen enough to turn up at the property and hand over a key. The obvious question is how they get a copy of the key, and I have no idea," he said.
"But that does make it more difficult for someone to spot the scam. If they are given a key, on the face of that you would just assume it is the owner."
