Vancouver-based rental platform liv.rent reported a 47 per cent increase in rental activity for June 2022, coinciding with a significant spike in reports of suspected rental scams. Employing a feature that allows users to flag suspicious activity on the platform, nearly triple the number of red flags were issued this June compared to a year ago.
“Scams and fraud are my biggest fear when renting in Canada,” said John Harding, a liv.rent user. “I haven’t personally encountered any scams, but I have heard stories from friends where they sent a security deposit for nothing.”
With students starting to return for the upcoming fall semester and 432,000 new permanent residents expected by year’s end, liv.rent says there is an urgent need for Canada’s rental industry to take action to safeguard vulnerable renters. Online rental scams have become more sophisticated and varied, making them harder for would-be renters to spot. Fake profiles and listings remain the root of the problem, and are typically accompanied by blurry photos, obscured address details, and urgent demands for personal information or cash deposits.
One incident reported on by CTV News Toronto involved a listing on Kijiji that resulted in several tenants submitting cash deposits to a fake landlord for a unit that was never for rent. Current measures to safeguard renters from scams like this include tips and warnings posted for users, but liv.rent says these efforts largely fail because they don’t address the root problem—the existence of the fake ads themselves. As such, the platform is taking action to combat rental scams by verifying the identity of landlords in a multi-step process. Landlords are asked to upload a photo ID matched against a selfie, and to submit ownership documents or a one-time code that was mailed to the address.
While the industry continues to develop new methods for promoting transparency, liv.rent says it encourages Canadian renters to remain vigilant and educate themselves in order to quell the growing threat posed by rental scams.
