Most Renters in the US Have Encountered a Rental Scam at Least Once. Survey Shows It's More Common Than People Think
Dwellsy's rental fraud survey results shows staggering evidence about how often rental fraud occurs to the everyday renter. Many people are losing upwards of $5,000 or more.
LOS ALTOS, Calif., July 21, 2022 (Newswire.com) - In March of 2022, Dwellsy conducted a survey of over 400 renters to gain a better understanding of the impact of rental fraud on U.S. residents.
Dwellsy found that roughly 60% of respondents encountered fraudulent rental listings on online rental platforms in the prior 12 months. To make matters worse, 44% of the renters surveyed had, or knew someone who had, experienced financial loss as a consequence of rental fraud.
The numbers concerning the financial impact of fraud on renter households were significant. Around 85% of losses reported were above $400, and 18.7% of losses were more than $5,000.
Dwellsy's most shocking survey results came from their estimated total yearly losses due to rental fraud, which was a whopping 16 billion dollars.
"It's an epidemic of fraud that affects every rental search and it needs to be dealt with," said Dwellsy CEO and Co-founder Jonas Bordo.
Dwellsy Fights Back Against Rental Fraud
Dwellsy was founded in 2019 as the first fully organic, fraud-free rental marketplace. To help maintain "low-to-no" fraudulent activity, Dwellsy has implemented a proprietary fraud prevention methodology that enables them to increase their odds of catching scammers early on.
Dwellsy has also implemented a "Dwellsy Verified" feature that helps renters identify which rental listings have been verified and those that have yet to be deemed trustworthy. With this simple tool, Dwellsy is able to help provide renters with a peace of mind that is often missing when searching for a home online.
Dwellsy is so adamant about protecting renters that they created a service called Dwellsy Edge, which provides renters various resources needed to safely and quickly find a home. Dwellsy Edge features the SafeSearch warranty, which provides up to $2,000 of fraud protection for all Dwellsy Edge subscribers, helping renters protect themselves from financial loss if it still happens.
"With these tools Dwellsy can address fraud before bad actors are able to prey on renters, causing frustration, hardship, or even financial ruin," said Bordo.
About the Survey
The Dwellsy rental fraud survey was conducted online through two different survey websites recording responses from renters across the country. There were a total of 402 renters from 42 states across the country that participated in this study. View more on our Renters Fraud Survey blog.
About Dwellsy
Dwellsy is a comprehensive residential home rentals marketplace that has more than 12 million residential rental home listings, more than any legacy classifieds site - as well as the most diverse set of listings - including single-family rentals, condos, townhouses, and apartments at all price points.
Source: Dwellsy
