Members Be Aware: Suspicious Caller for Rentals and Referrals
A RAHB member office has been contacted by a man who expressed an interest in renting a house or apartment and also in introducing contacts in exchange for a referral fee. The interaction raised a number of red flags for the Broker of Record.
The details of the exchange included:
The gentleman, who said he is 64 years old, expressed an interest in renting a house or high end apartment.
He also said he would introduce the salesperson to a number of potential clients from other parts of the world, and that he has many contacts and opportunities for which he wants a referral fee.
When told that referrals can be paid only to licensed registrants, he said he is a lawyer and has approval from RECO.
He was at times aggressive in his requests.
He went by a name which, when searched online, produced links to articles about his history of not paying rent and about charges of fraud.
The incident has been reported to the Hamilton Police.
Please exercise caution if you experience a similar exchange, and consider reporting the incident to the police.
On September 28, the Association released this notice:
On October 15, OMDREB sent out an notice to their members which you can read here.
Please exercise caution if you experience similar exchange, and consider reporting the incident to the police.