Fraud Scam London apartment rental: www.citysrentals.com

Thanks so much for the warning, Judith! We often get questions about vacation apartment rentals here and it's nice to hear of ones to tell people to avoid.

You are most welcome. Glad to help out when they are brought to my attention. Judith

Have you notified Craigslist?

Hi John, yes I wrote to Craigslist and haven't heard back from them. I also found out the name of the bank and account this fraudulent person uses in the UK. I phoned the bank and the bank said I can't do anything, but if anyone has paid money to www.citysrentals.com in the UK, they need to contact their own bank and the bank will then contact the other bank and investigate it and obtain a refund. I don't think there is anything further I can do. Judith

Would the UK Office of Fair Trading have any legal authority over this company?

It is sad that you cannot trust adds anymore, Craigslist or any other. When I was going to Paris this summer, I found a great price on an Apt. in the 9th. Luckily, I have a friend in Paris who went to the apt. and met the owners and the add was legit. We rented the apt. for two weeks and had a wonderful time.
I have had the other side too. Using a listed site, the owner had apt. for rent. She said that she had an apt. that she had bought recently and had not put on the rental site yet, but was willing to rent to me. Smelled funny, so booked ETAP hotel, just in case. I could cancel the hotel if apt. worked out. Apt was a wreck!! Refrigerator was frosted shut. Clothes strewn everywhere. Glasses, empty wine bottles, etc. everywhere. Bed unmade and looked filthy. Toilet, well . . .. lets not go to far there. We did not stay. Went to ETAP.
I have always wondered if someone would take on the challenge of checking out apts. in cities. I would be willing to pay 25 -30E or more, depending on how long I was staying, for someone to do that. The good thing about this would be once checked out, if another called, then the foot work is already done. It would only take an hour or two, and that is pretty good wages.

Good point from Frank II - I shall contact them and let you know. I have been in contact with journalists to enquire if they can do anything. Still waiting for a reply. John, in principle your idea is a good one. In reality, not sure how it would work, as the apartments are often fully occupied, so one would need to wait until they are empty to enter - in fairness to the guests. I rent out a studio apartment in London and use a large listing site, mainly because guests can post their experience to the site and it doesn't go via the owner. In future there will be more guest reviews, (just like restaurant and cafe reviews now on the increase) so the non legit properties will get found out. If one reads everything very carefully, one can usually detect that something is not quite right. If you look at citysrentals.com for example, the photographs do not match up with the descriptions. The prices are are cheap - so that should encourage one to investigate it further. Judith

I recently read a number of articles on rental scams and tips to avoid them that I found interesting ( http://www.nyhabitat.com/blog/category/new-york-habitat-news-tips/online-apartment-rental-advice/ ) and that I believe, can help us all get a better understanding of the basics in what to do and what not to do. Just as interesting are the comments posted at the bottom of the articles. In one of them someone called Jeanne left a testimonial that's good to be read...

The problem I have found with large listing sites is the extra fees the site charges. On craigslist and gumtree.com, the listings are free and there is no payment to a listing service, so the apts and rooms are cheaper to rent. HOWEVER, that is when the problem of scam rentals ugly head appears. The one on Craigslist at 280 per week in the 9th in Paris was really a good deal. Almost too good. Thankfully, my friend was able to meet the owners and see that the apt did exist. Then I knew the pictures were legit and the description was also. Rented the apt. for two weeks and loved it. Ac would have been nice, but we took a fan with us and it made the difference.

Some good news to report - the scam website of www.citysrentals.com in London is no longer available. Also the adverts were removed from Craigslist. So maybe we have saved some unsuspecting people from getting scammed. Thank you for all of your comments. Judith

Yes, thanks for taking the time to spot a fraud and to do something about it.

Glad to help out and if anyone wants me to make a call from London in the future to check on something, post a message here. Judith

Do not use www.kortisproperties.com, nor emails to booking@kortisproperties.com. It is a scam. Kortisproperties has copied the description of my property, TheLuxPod and have posted it on Craigslist. I have already alerted Craigslist. Best wishes, Judith