RENTERS BEWARE
Officials warn of scams at home where squatters lived
TRENTON>> At least 10 people moved into the house at the beginning of the summer that had sat vacant for approximately five years, and a local postal worker thought the situation was odd.
The same day the group moved into the house on the 100 block of Franklin Street, other people moved into another vacant house down the street.
“Some of these houses that have been sitting that long, I don’t see anyone going in to do the work,” said the postal worker, who wished to remain anonymous. “People just move in and that’s what makes me question. They had electric in their name, they had bills coming in their name and they were having packages delivered in their name. They set up shop and they were living there.”
It turns out, the postal worker’s suspicions were correct.
Nobody should have been living in the bank-owned, fore closed house at 105 Franklin St. It was boarded up over the weekend after it was determined that squatters were living there.
County and state officials held a press conference outside the home on Tuesday afternoon warning residents of rental scams.
“The house behind me was bank owned and was occupied by squatters who were eventually evicted from this property because of criminal activity,” Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson said. “Banks must do a better job of monitoring their properties that are vacant to ensure that these activities no longer continue to happen in our city and our county.”
As outlined in the press conference, the scam works like this:
• Unscrupulous individuals pose as agents or owners to rent vacant properties that they don’ t own to unsuspecting renters
• The fake landlords or agents ask for cash payments for deposit and rent. They allow the renters to move into the property but never provide important items, such as a key or lease
• The renters then become unsuspecting squatters and are eventually forced out of the property or are never allowed to move in
• The renters ultimately lose the cash deposit or rent they provided to the fake landlords or agents
Mayor Jackson said the scam grew after the housing crisis that left many foreclosed properties vacant, as is the case for many properties in Trenton. He provided the following tips to potential renters:
• Verify rental listing, property ownership and other pertinent information
• Never give anyone cash even if the landlord requested a month-tomonth arrangement
• Demand a lease that’s spelled out in writing
• Never rent a property without visiting the site, and meet the landlord in person, ask for a business
card and verify it • Renters should be wary if a landlord or property owner shows little interest in income and employment
To strengthen the laws, Assemblywoman Liz Muoio (D-Mercer/Hunterdon) has proposed a package of five bills to target and stop the practices of phantom landlords that sell properties to unsuspecting renters. If signed into law, the bills would:
• Criminalize certain actions by imposter landlords, who rent out or advertise for rent residential dwellings they do not own or lawfully possess
• Encourage purchasers of residential real property to record deeds within 30 days or face fines of $10 a day for each day thereafter, up to $500
• Require an electric public utility to notify a property owner when an account is opened, closed, transferred or altered
• Require the New Jersey Department of Consumer Affairs to undertake public information campaign about the issue
• Require all creditors that acquire title to a non-owner occupied residential property to provide notice of the acquisition to the municipality in which the property is located.
“Right now, you cannot penalize people if they do not actually receive the money,” Muoio explained. “This will target people who try and do the scam.”
Furthermore, Muoio said, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
The scam mostly takes advantage of low-income residents who think they stumbled across a good deal.
“It’s not just in terms of renters or buyers beware,” said State Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer/Hunterdon), who proposed an identical set of bills in the Senate. “Let those scammers beware that we’re going to take measures against them. If they break the law and victimize desperate people, then they’re going to go to jail and pay a heavy fine”
The newly formed Mercer County Fraudulent Housing Occupancy Task Force, an agency comprised of county and city agencies, investigated the house on Franklin Street before boarding the property up.
Trenton Police Director Ernest Parrey Jr. encouraged the public to get involved with cracking down of the rental scams, citing the old cliche, “If you see something, say something.”
“If you’re living next door to a residence that currently is vacant and you hear someone in that property, you need to let us know,” Parrey said, noting the public should call the non-emergency line at 609-9894170 or submit anonymous tips on MyBlock at trentonpolice.com. “If you see a light in a window that normally isn’t there, share that information with us.”
The Mercer County Clerk’s Office will also have a property fraud alert hotline go live on Nov. 1 at 609989-6470 where people can call who feel they have been victimized by a rental scam. The county is also allowing owners to sign up for free email alerts any time a document, such as a lien or deed, is recorded on their property.
To sign up, visit mercercounty.org and click on the “Property Alert” icon.
Clerk Paula Sollami Covello said she is installing the email alert system because she has seen people place construction liens on properties and then claim they are allowed to live in the house.
“That is something that we feel is needed now more than ever, sadly, because more and more people are recording documents like fake deeds, fake liens and fake mortgages,” the clerk said. “This is how we notify you immediately when something is happening on your property.”
As for the squatters living in Trenton homes, the postal worker said it “happens a lot.” The postal worker said residents know it is happening but they are intimidated to notify the proper authorities.
“You know what it is, the neighbors don’t want to get involved because they’re afraid of retaliation or they’re here illegally,” the postal worker said. “I see it every day.”