Homeowners opening their doors to rental scams in Nova Scotia

Some Nova Scotia homeowners have been caught off guard after having people show up on their doorsteps eager to move into their homes.

Vanessa Childs Rolls of Sydney, N.S., returned from grocery shopping Saturday to find two international students on her doorstep and looking into her windows.

Childs Rolls was told the would-be renters had responded to an online advertisement, signed a fake lease and paid a deposit. The women were expecting to move into the George Street home within days. 

"My husband actually told them, 'Well, I'm very sorry, but you're not renting this house because it's not for rent,'" she said.

"They told him that they'd given their notice at their current apartment and that they had to move out in two days and they had nowhere to go."

'It wasn't a good situation to be in,' says homeowner

Childs Rolls said her family has lived at the property for 20 years, and has never once put it up for rent.

"They were not very happy. They looked distraught. So, it wasn't a good situation to be in. It was very awkward and uncomfortable for us," said Childs Rolls.

"That leads us to think what if come February 1st, other people show up at our house and try to move in? … We're very nervous about what's going to be going on in the next couple of days."

Housing shortage

Nova Scotia is grappling with a housing shortage fuelled by a lack of supply and strong population growth, making the market ripe for fraud as people try to find housing. The Halifax area had a vacancy rate of one per cent, as of October 2022.

Nathalie Vogel of Halifax said last year, three or four people showed up at her home expecting to get keys to a new unit.

After telling them the place wasn't for rent, Vogel was shown an online ad, which had her address, but different pictures of the rooms inside.

Vogel said most people who stopped by seemed vulnerable or desperate for housing.

"I had an older man come later in the day and he was really upset," Vogel said in an interview with CBC's Mainstreet Halifax.

"He had given a deposit. I think he'd sent like $500 to this woman. And he also showed me the same ad and he had just flown in from Edmonton."

Tense encounters

Vogel was told the man had arrived in Nova Scotia to visit his father, who was dying in hospital.

In another instance, a man got angry after believing Vogel was the scammer.

"He was yelling on my doorstep and I was like, 'I'm really sorry… again, we're not renting a room,'" said Vogel.

Sonya Major is the co-owner of a property management firm in Lunenburg, N.S. She received a phone call from tenants of a property she manages. A young couple from Mahone Bay, N.S., arrived looking to move in after paying a $2,000 deposit. 

"It was upsetting for everybody, of course," Major said. "They thought they were moving in that day, so they had all this stuff packaged up and ready to move in."

Major, Vogel and Childs Rolls said police were contacted about what happened.

What the RCMP recommends

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay said renters should never pay a deposit on a home they have not visited in person.

He said red flags are often raised when landlords say they're too busy for apartment viewings, or they pressure people saying they have multiple offers for rent.

Tremblay said people who are scammed should contact their local police.

He said people should never send money by e-transfer. 

Tremblay said financial crime investigations are difficult and complex as they involve a lot of warrant and judicial applications to obtain information from banks.

"Oftentimes, the money will change hands so many times ... and that makes it extremely difficult for investigators to follow and track that money," he said.

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