It’s no secret the Florida housing market is hot. People are scrambling to find places to buy and rent.
PORT RICHEY, Fla. — A few months ago Mimi Bassant was in the market for a new place to rent.
“I found a couple of places where they show you the video on YouTube, and they give you a tour of how the place looks on the inside and the outside,” Bassant said. “They even added a little music to go with it.”
She came across a listing in Port Richey, and the price point seemed reasonable.
“I filled out all their information and then I had to give them the application fee. The application fee was $89,” she said. “Once I submitted that, they said that somebody was going to call me as soon as the application was done, within two to three days.”
When she didn’t hear back for a while, she got suspicious.
“I said you know what? Something is telling me something is off,” Bisant said. “So I told my son let’s go let’s go to this property address and let’s see what’s really going on.”
The Better Business Bureau says this is a common tactic.
Bryan Oglesby, director of public relations and outreach at the Better Business Bureau in West Florida,…
