webLOGfor.US

While I am a landlord, I am a citizen and see both sides of the equation here.  With the economy in a tailspin we have set the stage for scams to be rampant.  The increase in foreclosures has forced both homeowners and tenants out into the street.  Most appear with a sense of urgency and will need a place fast.  This urgency can cause people to cut corners or to rush through things and not pay attention to the details.  This is a scam artist’s dream.  They can prey on the urgency and need to bilk people out of their hard earned, and much needed, money.

I’ve compiled a list of some scams, both landlord and tenant scams, for us all to keep an eye on.

Non-Owner Scam:
Non-owner showing a property.  These guys got the keys to a place one way or anotehr and are looking to rent it out.  They will rent the same place out to multiple people and collect security deposits, first and last months rents from all the "tenants".  this usually ends with no one’s lease being valid and everyone out their money.

This can be accomplished a couple ways.

• Renting with the intent of renting to others. This scam works just how it sounds. A scam artist rents a property so they can show it to other prospective renters. They will collect first and last month’s rent, security deposits and any fees or charges they can squeeze out of their victims before skipping town with the loot. There have been reports of a single property being leased or rented to dozens of people before the crook vanished with their money.
• Renting on behalf of the owner. This scam is similar to the previous one but there’s one major difference: the scam artist claims to be helping someone else rent the property. They might be sick, or overseas, or just too busy to do it themselves for whatever reason. Once the scammer collects first, last, deposits and fees they skip town. The renter then discovers the home wasn’t for rent. The owners or renters may have been away for business or pleasure, or it’s a vacation home, or it could be a foreclosed property. Either way you’re out the money if you fall for it.
• Let and run scam.  In this scam the perpetrator poses as someone interested in renting a property. they will come and view the property once with the owner or manager.  they will then stop by and ask to see the place again, usually trying to get the manager or owner to agree to allow them to view the place alone or very quickly.  Once hey get the key from the owner they will have a copy made and return it.  If the landlord checks out the property everything seems fine.  The "prospective tenant" will then perform one of the above scams.

In these scams, there are really two victims.  First, the landlord now has squatters in their property and, second, the tenants have an illegal tenancy and will face eviction.

Ad Copying:
Here a scammer will copy a Craigslist ad or other rental ad exactly.  They will then post this ad, many times pictures and all, and just change the rent amount and contact information.  Here everything looks good.  If you drive by the property you may even see a "For Rent" sign in front.  Neighbors will know it is for rent, etc.  This scam plays on the "too good to be true" emotion.  If all properties are renting for around $900 and the one you are looking at is great and also $700, something is wrong.  This is most likely the start to one of the above mentioned scams.

Identity Theft:
In today’s online world it may seem Ok to handle things electronically.  Maybe even an application to rent a property.  Remember folks, you are giving out your personal information here.  Think identity theft.  Some scammers aren’t necessarily looking to rip you off now.  Some may just want your personal information.  These people will most likely try to keep everything over the phone or the Internet.  They will try to get you to fill out an application and give them personal information.  Here they are mainly looking to steal your identity.  You may not even realize you were scammed until it is too late.  Follow some good advice.  Never give out your personal information over the phone…or the Internet.

Nigerian type Scams:
This tried and true scam has now made it’s way into the hearts of all areas of business.  This scam preys to both tenants and landlords.  There are two main variants for each.

• With landlords it is generally a tenant coming into the country.  The prospective tenant will send a cashier’s check to you.  "Accidentally" they will have sent too much and they want you to wire them the difference back, keeping a little bit for your won trouble of course.  Once you wire the money to them they will have it and you will find out the check has bounced.  Remember, it can take a couple weeks before the bank knows that the check has bounced.  Once it does they will come after you for the money.  Either way, you will be out the money you wired to them.
• For tenants, it is different.  It is a play on the Ad Copying Scam above.  Generally you will never meet this person but they have a great place for rent.  They will try to conduct all business over the phone and via the Internet.  Once they have your money they will disappear. 

Things to watch out for:

• If it is too good to be true run, don’t walk.
• Cash only up front
• Overpayment then asking for a refund
• Offering you something that doesn’t pass the smell test, like the “homeboy hookup” in the video below.

Safe practices:

• Deal locally with people you can meet in person.
• Avoid deals involving shipping or escrow services, and be wary of a transaction “guarantee.”
• Never give out your financial information and definitely do not wire funds.
• Ask plenty of "qualifying" questions.
• Verify owners of property at the tax board.
• Ask the landlord if you can see their ID.
• If a property management company is managing the condo, home or community, call them and ask whether the person you’re dealing with actually owns the property.
• Considering how many homes are being foreclosed, don’t be afraid to ask if the landlord is current on their mortgage payments.
• Ask potential tenants for references and follow up by checking them.
• Change the locks frequently if you rent the property often. If your previous tenants kept a copy of the keys, they have access to the home!
• Verify your tenant’s employment by contacting their employer.
• Run a credit check on potential tenants before renting to them.
• Don’t let a tenant pay more than you asked for then demand a refund. If you give it to them, you’re out the money.

Sorry for the long post.  It ended up being a lot of information to put here. 

Check out the video below.  The original story is here: 

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

I've broken down and ordered myself a memory card for my Palm Treo.  They're cheap enough o get but I just haven't gotten around to getting it yet.  I've been traveling to and from a local office for work lately and have found myself using the Internet on it more plus I have been snapping pictured of things I find funny, interesting or just want to remember.  This has gotten me to use the memory up and I have been receiving the memory critically low message almost daily.

To clear up space on the Palm Treo's memory, first, make sure you empty the deleted items.  Do this for both your email and for your text messages.  The steps are below.    
    

1. Go to bottom blue bar reading "Reminder" and "Menu" tap "Reminder" to change to "messaging"
2. Tap "messaging"
3. Tap "menu" on bottom blue bar
4. Tap "tools"
5. Tap "Empty Deleted Items"

Next, make sure that you get rid of your Internet Explorer Cache.  
 

1. Go into Internet Explorer
2. Click on the Menu button
3. Go to Tools
4. Then select Options
5. go to the memory tab and Click Clear History
6. and then click Delete Files
7. After clicking the Delete Files it may run for a while.

You may want to do this after extensive Web searching or browsing.

Once my 2GB memory card arrives I’ll move all my videos and pictures to it and I will hopefully no longer have a problem with the Palm’s memory critically low message.

Life: 

    Sorry I've been away for so long.  My full time career has been getting in the way of my blogging.  We're up for another re-compete of many positions we have filled around the United States and I've been working on seeing how they are going and writing proposals as needed.  I pulled an all-niter finishing one proposal only to hear of another that should be coming through sometime today.  I needed a stress release so I took a few minutes to browse the Internet, catch up on some news articles I've been putting off reading and figured I should update everyone on what is going on.

    In addition to the re-compete I've been traveling quite a bit lately to prep the customers for what was coming.   I wanted to prepare them and do everything I could to help out before the positions were actually advertised.  Once they are advertised I am no longer allowed to speak to the decision makers.  These are government contracts and I would end up disqualifying my company from the work if I were to have any questionable contact with the decision makers.  It looks like I'll be spending about 2 weeks on the West Coast next month.  Heres to some good weather!

New Tenant in House #1: 

    The new tenant is working out well.  He's honest and keeps me informed of things that go wrong.  For example, while moving in he was backing his car up with the trunk open and hit the outdoor light that is next to the back door.  It ended up cracking the base where the light attached to the metal plate that is affixed to the stone wall.  He wired it up so that you can't tell it was damaged unless you get very close to it.  Actually I had driven past the property twice and never noticed it until he pointed it out to me.  He said he'll fix it and I'll give him a couple more weeks to get it done.  If it is still broken by the time fall comes, I'll go out and buy a new fixture and replace it.  I'll forward the bill for the fixture over to him.  If the fixture was old I probably just let it slide and replace it free of charge but the fixture is about 3 years old.

Existing Tenant in Condo #1:

    I never received the rent from my existing tenant in Condo #1 for August.  This was the first month that the increased rent was due.  The rent increase was just about 5%.  I know he works split shifts and ends up sleeping odd hours.  I've been keeping crazy hours with my travel and proposals so I typed a letter out to him one night and sent it off explaining that I hadn't received the rent payment yet.  I let him know what my schedule was like and that I didn't call because I didn't want to wake him in the middle of his sleep since I know he keeps off hours for work.  I explained what the amount due was and what the late charge was.  I asked him to let me know if the payment was lost in the mail so we could work something out.  The letter was sent out last Wednesday I believe so he should have gotten it by Friday.  

    This tenant has been with me for just about 3 years and has always paid his rent, occasionally falling behind, but catching up quickly  He usually lets me know when he's running behind so this is an unusual circumstance.  The rent is still well below market value for the area which is OK with me because he is a great tenant.  Pair the lack of communication with the fact that this month was the first with a rent increase and it gets me thinking. If I don't get a check by Friday or at least some type of response I'll call on Saturday and pop over with a Pay or Quit notice.  I'll keep you updated.

CISSP Examination:

    Well, the CISSP examination was quite an ordeal and I wasn't sure if I passed.  Turns out I just missed passing.  I received a score of 689 in the CISSP certification test.  700 is the minimum score required for obtaining your CISSP certification.  Coincidentally another person in the class received a 689 also.  I think that is just plain weird.  I've tried doing some research to see if a 689 in the CISSP exam actually means something like I passed the test overall but failed one section but I haven't been able to find anything.   Even though the entire class exchanged emails and a ew of us sent our results out for all to see, only a handful shared the results.  out of the 8 of us that shared the results, 6 passed.  that's a 25% failure rate which actually works out to the percentage of the class that was there the 2nd time taking the test.  Interesting statistic. 

    I want to take the certification test again before I lose too much of this knowledge.  I was planning for the end of September to re-take my CISSP test but that doesn't look like it's going to happen.  With the plan of being on the West Coast for 2 weeks and a mini vacation scheduled in there the second week of September I am booked up.  One good thing though is that I'll be able to get a decent amount of studying done while I am on travel.  There's 4 6 hours plane rides plus the evenings are open while I am away.  No dinner to cook, no family to be responsible for, it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise being away for 2 weeks.  My CISSP certification pursuit continues….

web log for us – those that can multi task…and succeed

    I was perusing my normal list of blogs today and noticed something funny.  It seemed that there were a peculiar amount of new blogs started touting how someone just sold their home and were thanking such and such company for help.  These posts were all new and all written in a similar style.  I thought it was the start of a viral marketing campaign and was interested to see how far it had gone so I started digging.  The fact that it seemed like a viral marketing campaign for a Real Estate Investment firm made it more interesting.

    Being one who likes to do research I noticed that these blogs entries were for three different companies.  In Faith Properties, KACW Investments and WH Investments.  They thanked two different people, Helen Pearce and Joanne Pearce, sometimes referring to the same person from different companies.  To me it seemed there were two people with the same last name working for the same company that was doing business as three entities.  This peaked my interest even more.  

    Digging a little further I can see why Joanne Pearce, Helen Pearce, or shall we say Helen Joanne Pearce would start a viral marketing campaign.  Most of what I have read online has listed their horrible dealings with a woman.  I haven't read much that has had anything to do with Matthew Pearce other than he is a partner in the company.  The woman's full name is Helen Joanne Pearce and usually goes by the name Joanne Pearce.  Occasionally I have seen sites that quote emails from her where there was the name Helen Pearce listed.  No matter which way it is, they are the same woman.

    As for KACW Investments, the company has a few complaints with the BBB and also on ripoffreport.com.  From what I've been able to gather this company originated as Way Home Investments (not to be confused with The Way Home Investors).  It looks like the company then went on to become KACW Investments.  After the complaints started to surface on the Internet about KACW Investments the company changed their name to In Faith Properties.  Apparently the third entity, WH Investments is a the most recent enterprise.  The companies appeared to have originated in Texas and migrated to Florida.  There is a WH Investments that resides in Michigan and I am unsure if they are related to Helen Joanne Pearce or Matthew Pearce.

    Joanne Pearce has also done a good job of responding to the complaints on ripoffreport.com.  From reading the posts on ripoffreport.com it appears there were also posts on Craigslist regarding the companies.  Anyone who has used Craigslist knows they only keep posts for a certain period of time before they are expunged from the system.  As for the posts on both places, there were threats of legal action against the posters of the information.  Helen Joanne Pearce or one of her designees apparently scours the Internet looking for information posted about her company.  The postings and responses almost seem like a soap-opera of real estate transactions.  It's a good read if you have the time.  Links to the reports are listed at the end of this entry.

    With knowledge of the Internet, a viral campaign on blogs would be a good thing.  It could help dilute the search results for anyone trying to Google any of the names of people or companies involved.  It's also a good advertising campaign. all the blog posts are telling what a wonderful experience the people had with WH Investments/KACW Investments/In Faith Properties/Way Home Investments.  Should anyone be suspicious?  I'll let you decide that on your own by telling you what I've seen.

On July 19th, there was:

• Jennyiscool over at blog.com posted about working with Helen Joanne Pearce at KACW Investments and said how good her experience was.  Jennyiscool never posted prior to this one single blog post.
• Georgia77 at blogster.com also wrote about her experience with KACW Investments but she has posted again.  She had one other post linking to a poverty website.
• Ladysnicker who resides at livejournal.com also had a wonderful experience with Joanne Pearce from KACW Investments.  ladysnicker never made another post

July 20th Haroldl posted to soulcast.com that Helen Joanne Pearce from KACW Investments was terrific.

July 23rd had 2 postings:

• trudie at blogsome.com talks of her good experience with Joanne Pearce at In Faith Properties.
• DukeJames at wordpress.com talks of his good experiences with Joanne Pearce at WH Investments.  DukeJames also posted one other time about the big fish he caught.

July 26th shows a post from Josieh84 at vox.com who had a great experience with joanne Pearce at WH Investments.

July 27th was the last I found so far.  Jude at blogspot.com who writes of his positive exzperience with Joanne Pearce at WH Investments.

Link to Ripoffreport.com for KACW Investments (opens in new window)

Link to Ripoffreport.com for In Faith Properties (opens in new window)

Link to Ripoffreport.com for WH Investments (opens in new window)

Link to Ripoffreport.com for way Home Investments (opens in new window)

    I am sure that as Google crawls the various blog sites we will be seeing quite a few more posting of people who have had wonderful experiences with these companies.  I'll update posts as I see new things.  If you have anything to say, feel free to post a comment to this post or email me via the Contact page.

     All I can say is that if any of these accusations are true, it's what gives honest Real Estate Investors a bad name.  Remember to always research the company and individuals you intend to do business with.

web log for us – those that fully research those that we do business with

    Well, the CISSP boot camp was one heck of an experience.  For anyone thinking of taking the Boot camp I can't stress enough to make sure you prepare beforehand.  Read at least the Passport or Exam Cram book to get a feel for the material.  the course is good, but if you do not have an understanding of the material prior to entering the boot camp you have a huge mountain to climb.  This is not one of those MCSE Boot Camps where you can go in with a basic understanding and get your paper MCSE.  

    For the test, it is an exhaustive experience.  250 multiple choice questions in a 6 hour period.  I consider myself adept at taking tests.  I believe the last time I failed a test was probably in High School.  So through college and my professional examinations I have gone through unscathed.  Even with the good test taking ability I have the CISSP exam was a trying experience.  I had to leave the room twice because I got physically nervous and anxious during the examination.

    The bulk of the examination is of the choose the best answer variety.  The only problem is that many of the answers fit the situation provided in the questions very well.  Take into account the questions that gave 4 wrong answers and you had to choose the one which was the least wrong and you can understand how difficult it is.  There was a small percentage of questions which could be answered simply from memorization.  Encryption formulas, codes of ethics, etc make up the basic items that you can answer from simple memorization.

    In the class of 20 people, 5 were there to refresh because they had failed the examination once.  That left 75% of the class who were there for the first time.  It will be interesting to see how many of the class have passed the CISSP exam.  

    Talking with some of the others who took the exam, we realized that no one coming out had an indication if they did well.  The questions and answers were so obscure that we will all be waiting the 14 days to get the results to know if we passed.  Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!