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SCV Sheriff’s Station Officials Warn Of Rental Scams

Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials issued a warning to residents Wednesday about a rise in rental and real estate scams in Santa Clarita.

Rental scammers commonly list ‘fake’ properties online at a low price, collect cash and personal information and disappear before the victim discovers they were given a fake listing on a property that doesn’t actually belong to them, according to a Sheriff’s Station Nixle news release.


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“The Santa Clarita Valley rental scams that Crime Prevention Unit deputies are seeing come in several variations, but they typically follow the same basic code,” the Nixle release said. “A con artist finds a property, pretends to be the owner or renter or listing agent, lists the property online, then communicates with the would-be renter (the victim) and takes a cash deposit and/or personal information, often times used for identity theft.”

The money rental scammers collect from victims is usually first and last month’s rent, plus additional fees, officials said.

Sheriff’s Station officials offered the following advice to residents to avoid being victimized:

  • Only deal with landlords, renters or property managers who are local

  • Be suspicious if asked to only use a wire transfer service, especially to wire money upfront

  • Beware of email correspondence from the “landlord” that’s written in poor or broken English, especially emails that begin with “Sir” or “Madam” and have excessive capitalization

  • Research the average rental rates in that specific area and be suspicious if the rate is significantly lower

  • Ask yourself why the owner is so eager to have you; legitimate property owners and managers take the time to ask questions and screen potential tenants

  • Collect documents; ask for copies of everything, including checks, money orders, the application, receipts, the lease, etc.

  • “Go with your gut;” if the rental looks too good to be true, it probably is

The Nixle release was issued in an effort to raise awareness about real estate scams in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Nixle is a Community Information Service that allows police departments, county emergency management offices, municipal governments and their agencies to issue notifications to their communities, according to their website.

More SCV Sheriff’s Station News


Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.


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SCV Sheriff’s Station Officials Warn Of Rental Scams

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About Melissa Lampert-Abramovitch

Melissa Lampert-Abramovitch has been writing for KHTS since Feb. 2014. She currently writes “Community Spotlight” and feature stories, and coordinates all aspects of both the”KHTS Adopt a Pet” video feature series and “Top Things to Do in Santa Clarita.” She is the creator of “KHTS Adopt a Pet” and acted as News Editor from 2019-2020, as well as Features Director and Newsroom Manager from 2016-2018. A former Valley Publications Staff Writer, Melissa was a contributor to the Santa Clarita Gazette and Canyon Country Magazine from 2015-2016. She has published feature stories with Pet Me Magazine, The Pet Press, The Signal, COC's Cougar News, and KJAMS Radio.