Rental Scams: How to Check a Landlord Is Legit (2026)

Quick answer

To avoid rental scams, never pay a deposit, holding fee or application fee before you've seen inside the property and signed a lease. Confirm the owner in county property records (US) or the HM Land Registry title register (UK, £7), check a letting agent's license or redress scheme membership, reverse image search the listing photos, and search the address for duplicate ads. Pay by card or bank transfer to an account in the landlord's or agency's name, never by wire, gift card or crypto.

Key numbers

$65 millionreported lost to rental scams in the US from January 2020 to June 2025, across nearly 65,000 reports, with a median loss of $1,000FTC Data Spotlight, December 2025
$275.1 millionlost to real estate fraud reported to the FBI in 2025, across 12,368 complaintsFBI IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report
£4.2 millionlost to rental fraud in the UK in 2023, with an average loss of £1,720 per victim, according to Action Fraud figures reported by Which?Which?, September 2024

You've found the place: right area, right price, good photos, a landlord who replies within minutes. Then comes the ask. Send the deposit to hold it, we'll do the viewing after, I'm out of the country, the keys will be posted. Rental scams work because the market is tight and the fear of losing a good flat is real.

The FTC counted nearly 65,000 rental scam reports and about $65 million in losses from January 2020 to June 2025, with a median loss of $1,000; in the year to June 2025 about half of victims said it started with a fake ad on Facebook, and people aged 18 to 29 were three times more likely than other adults to lose money. The FBI logged $275.1 million in real estate fraud losses in 2025. This guide is for the tenant: how to check a landlord or agent is legit before any money moves.

How do rental scams work?

Almost every rental scam is one of six scripts, and all of them end the same way: you pay before you've seen inside or signed anything.

The hijacked listing. The FTC says scammers "take over real rental listings and make them their own": they copy the photos and description from a genuine ad (often a home for sale), swap in their own contact details and repost it at a lower rent.
The phantom rental. A place that isn't for rent or doesn't exist, used to collect application fees, deposits or first month's rent.
The absent landlord. "I'm abroad for work." You can't view, but you can pay a deposit and the keys will be mailed, or a lockbox code sent for a "self-tour".
The fake or hijacked agent. A real agency's name, logo and sometimes a real employee's name, with a different phone number and bank account.
The unauthorized sublet. A tenant or short-let guest shows you around a place they don't control, takes your deposit and disappears.
Fee and data harvesting. Fake applications that ask for your Social Security number, a photo of your license and paystubs, and "$1 credit check" sign-ups that turn into recurring charges. The FTC's rental listing scams page describes all of these.

"I'm currently overseas with my company, so I can't show the house myself. If you're serious, send the deposit and first month via Zelle today and my agent will post the keys and the lease."

"We've had a lot of interest. A £300 holding fee secures the viewing slot and comes off your first month. It's fully refundable if you don't go ahead."

What are the signs a rental listing is fake?

A fake listing is cheap for the area, comes with pressure, and leads to a request for money before a viewing. Any one of these is a reason to slow down; two together is a reason to walk away.

Rent well below similar homes nearby. The FTC: "If the rent is a lot cheaper than most rents in the area, it could be a sign of a scam."
Pressure to decide today, pay a holding fee, or "secure" the place before anyone else.
The same property is listed for sale, or appears elsewhere with a different price or contact name.
The landlord can't meet you or show you inside, and offers a video tour or a lockbox instead.
Payment requested by wire transfer, gift card, crypto, or to a personal account whose name doesn't match the landlord or agency. Which? puts it simply: "make sure the payee name matches the name of the company or landlord you think you're dealing with."
A request for your Social Security number, National Insurance number, ID photo or credit-score screenshot before you've seen the property.
Photos that show up elsewhere. Reverse search two or three of them; our guide to reverse image searching a photo shows how on any device.
No office, website or government record you can trace the contact to.

If the listing is on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, the general checks in our guide to marketplace seller scams apply as well.

How do I check who owns the property?

Look the address up in the public property register for that area and compare the owner's name with the person asking for your money. In the US this is a county record; in England and Wales it's HM Land Registry.

US: county assessor and recorder sites. Most counties let you search for free by address. The Maricopa County Assessor (Phoenix) lets you search parcels by owner name or by address. The Harris Central Appraisal District (Houston) has an address search whose results include owner names. Some assessor sites show the parcel but not the owner: Cook County's (Chicago) property pages give the address, class and assessed value without a name, so there you'd use the county recorder's or treasurer's records instead. Zillow's own scam guide says the same thing: "the local assessor's office or county clerk can provide property records to verify ownership."

UK: HM Land Registry. For a property in England or Wales, search the register on GOV.UK by address and buy the title register for £7 (online copy). It shows the owner's name, the price paid where available and whether there's a mortgage. An online copy can't be used as proof in court, but it's all you need to compare names. If the owner is a company, check its officers at Companies House; our guide on checking if a company is legit covers that.

EU. Every country has a land register, but public access varies. Ask the landlord for a recent extract from the register, and lean harder on the agent checks below and on seeing the property in person.

A matching owner name isn't the end of the check. Scammers read the same registers and use the real owner's name. Pair the record with photo ID shown to you in person at the property, and a payee name that matches.

How do I check a landlord or letting agent is legit?

Check that the person is real and connected to the place, then check that any agent is licensed or registered. Ask for a full name early: a genuine landlord gives it without hesitation, and the FTC advises searching the owner's or company's name with "complaint", "review" or "scam", and searching the address with the owner's name to see whether it appears under different names.

A Search A-Z general search on the name the landlord or agent gave you shows whether it belongs to a real person with a findable trail: current job and company, work history, public social and professional profiles, news and web mentions from a live web search, and any public scam or fraud warnings. Add the phone number and email they're using and the report says whether each is real, the phone's line type (mobile, landline or internet/VoIP) and its fraud risk. US searches can include public-record addresses and phones, so you can see whether the person has any connection to the city at all. It won't tell you who owns the property; that's what the public records above are for. The person is never told you searched, and if the report can't find anyone matching the name, it says so. One limit, stated plainly: if you're a landlord checking a tenant, Search A-Z can't be used for that. Tenant screening is a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which the FTC says requires an FCRA-compliant screening service with the applicant's consent and specific notices.

US agents and property managers. Real estate agents are licensed by the state. Ask for the license number and check it on the state commission's lookup: California's DRE Public License Information search (by name or license ID; the DRE itself warns that unlicensed people misuse licensees' names) and Texas's TREC License Holder Search are typical. Then call the brokerage on the number from its own website and ask whether that agent works there and handles that address.

UK letting agents. By law every estate and letting agent must belong to a government-approved redress scheme, The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme, and letting agents in England must also hold Client Money Protection, according to Propertymark's guide to agent logos. Check an agent on the National Trading Standards Property Agent Checker. Propertymark membership is voluntary; check it on Propertymark's own "find an expert" search, since logos can be copied. Which? adds: call or visit the agency's registered office to confirm the person and the listing are theirs.

EU. Many countries license or register estate agents nationally; ask for the registration number and check it with the national body. For a dispute with an agency in another EU country, the European Consumer Centres Network gives free help.

How do I pay a rental deposit safely?

Pay only after you've seen inside and both of you have signed the lease, by a method that names the recipient and can be traced. The FTC's rule is blunt: "Wiring money, sending gift cards, or paying by cryptocurrency is the same as sending cash."

View in person first, or send someone you trust. Which?: "No money should change hands and no contracts should be signed until you've seen it in person."
Get the lease, read it, and have it signed by both parties before any deposit or first month's rent.
Pay by card, bank transfer or the landlord's payment portal to an account in the landlord's or agency's name, and keep the receipt. Zillow recommends traceable methods such as ACH transfers, cards or the landlord's portal, and says never to wire or use crypto or gift cards.
UK: your landlord or agent must put your deposit into a government-approved scheme within 30 days of receiving it, and GOV.UK's tenancy deposit protection guide names the three schemes in England and Wales: Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits and Tenancy Deposit Scheme. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. Since 1 May 2026 most new tenancies in England are assured periodic tenancies, which carry the same protection requirement. Ask which scheme will hold your deposit before you pay.
US: deposit rules are set by state and sometimes city law. Ask where the deposit will be held and get it in the lease.

What should I ask a landlord before paying?

Ask five questions, in writing, and judge the answers as much as the words. A genuine landlord or agent has heard every one of them before.

"Can we meet at the property on Thursday evening? I'd like to see inside before I apply."

"Whose name is on the title? I'll check it against the county records / Land Registry before I pay anything."

"Which agency are you with, what's your license number (US) or redress scheme (UK), and can I call the office to confirm?"

"Please send the lease first. I'll pay the deposit when we've both signed and I have the keys."

"Which account will the deposit go to, and whose name is on it?" (UK: "Which deposit scheme will you register it with?")

Answers that end the conversation: the owner is overseas "with a mission" or "on a rig", the keys will be posted once the money clears, the holding fee is refundable but must be paid today, the account is in a cousin's name "for tax reasons", or you must complete an application with your SSN and a photo of your ID before you can see the place.

What should I do if I've already paid a rental scammer?

Call your bank, card issuer or payment app immediately and ask them to recall or freeze the payment, then report the listing and the scam. Our guide on getting money back after a scam has the exact steps and deadlines for each payment method.

Screenshot the listing, the profile, the messages and the payment details before they're deleted.
Report the listing to the site that hosted it. Zillow, Facebook and Craigslist all have report options on the listing.
US: report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, to your local police, to your state attorney general (all three are the FTC's advice), and at ic3.gov if you paid by bank transfer.
UK: report to Report Fraud online or on 0300 123 2040 (Police Scotland on 101 in Scotland). If you paid by bank transfer, your bank should reimburse you under the UK's mandatory APP fraud rules in most cases.
EU: report to your national police; Europol lists each country's reporting site.

If it's your own home that has appeared in a rental ad without your permission, report the listing to the platform straight away and put a note on your door, because the scammer may be sending people to "self-tour".

The bottom line

Rental scams need one thing from you: money before you've seen inside and signed. Confirm the owner in the county records or the Land Registry, check the agent's license or redress scheme, check the person's name and number, and pay by a traceable method to an account in the right name. If the landlord can't meet you at the door, they aren't your landlord.

Frequently asked questions

How can I tell if a landlord is legit?

Ask for their full name and ID, meet them at the property and see inside, and check the owner's name in the county property records (US) or the HM Land Registry title register (UK). Search their name with 'scam' or 'review', and check that their phone is a real mobile or landline rather than an internet number. A real landlord gives you a signed lease before taking a deposit.

How do I find out who owns a rental property?

In the US, search the address on the county assessor's or recorder's website; many, such as Maricopa County and Harris County, show the owner's name for free. In England and Wales, search HM Land Registry on GOV.UK and buy the title register for £7. In much of the EU, access to land registers is restricted, so ask for a register extract and rely on the agent checks.

Is it normal to pay a deposit or holding fee before viewing a rental?

No. The FTC and Which? both say not to pay anything before you've seen the property in person and signed a lease. A 'refundable holding fee' demanded before a viewing is one of the most common rental scam scripts.

Is it safe to pay a rental deposit by bank transfer or Zelle?

Only to an account in the landlord's or agency's name, after you've viewed and signed. In the UK, bank transfers to a scammer are usually reimbursed under the mandatory APP fraud rules. In the US, a Zelle or wire payment you made yourself is hard to recover, so a credit card or the landlord's payment portal is safer where offered. Never pay by wire, gift card or crypto.

How do I check a letting agent in the UK?

Every agent must belong to a redress scheme (The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme), and letting agents in England must hold Client Money Protection. Look the agent up on the National Trading Standards Property Agent Checker, check any Propertymark membership on Propertymark's own site, and call the agency's registered office to confirm the listing is theirs.

Can a landlord use Search A-Z to screen tenants?

No. Tenant screening is a consumer report under the US Fair Credit Reporting Act, which requires an FCRA-compliant screening service, the applicant's consent and specific notices. Search A-Z is for the tenant checking that a landlord or agent is a real person, not for landlords vetting applicants.

Are rental listings on Zillow or Facebook Marketplace safer?

Not automatically. Scammers copy real listings onto every platform; the FTC found about half of rental scam victims in the year to June 2025 said the scam began with a fake Facebook ad. Apply the same checks everywhere: confirm the owner, view in person, sign first, pay traceably, and report any listing that fails.

Sources

Figures are the latest published by each source when this guide was updated. Reported fraud losses are a floor: most fraud is never reported.

Rental scams: how to check a landlord or agent is legit before you pay a deposit