A thrash of apartment rental scams that seemed to begin popping up in 2009 and 2010 have reappeared, and this time, scam artists are targeting luxury Boston rental apartments.

A reader contacted us recently inquiring whether the rental dialogue that they were having with a purported condo owner at Trinity Place, the luxury condo development located at 1 Huntington Avenue adjacent to Copley Square, was legitimate. The reader was kind enough to forward one of the emails they received from the scam artist, which advertises a penthouse duplex available at Trinity Place for rent. The only catch, the owner requests upfront cash through Google checkout before the potential renter can even so much as see the unit.

For some many reasons this is wrong, however, one interesting note is that there are no duplexes at Trinity Place, and further, the penthouse level of Trinity Place, is composed of two separate grand units that are owned by the same individual.

To make readers aware what this scam looks like, we are publishing the email thread between the potential renter (name has been removed) and the scam artist below.

Trinity Place Boston Craigslist Apartment Rental Scam

From: Christy Patton
Date: Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 5:36 PM
Subject: Re: 3 Bedroom 3 Bath Super Luxury Penthouse Duplex – $2899/month (Boston)

Hi, My name is Christy, I am 32 years old and I’m an interior designer.
I apologize for the delay! The apartment is ready for moving in. The address is 1 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02116.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

I hate to say it, but summer is winding down and September 1st is just around the corner, Boston’s biggest apartment turnover day. Every year, thousands of college students and professionals move to new apartments on the 1st of September, but with the economy on edge, this year’s market is far from normal.

Typically, students start looking for their September 1st apartments beginning in January. Over the years, landlords have grown accustom to this trend and the expectation is that the majority of their apartments will be rented by June. This year, the apartment rental market has been strong, but it has been apparent that renters have really been doing their homework and taking their time. Renters have been looking at more apartments and spending more time weighing options. Early in the season, this left landlords worried, and when July hit and they still had excess inventory, some landlords were starting to worry that their apartments would be left vacant for the  next leasing year.

Thankfully (for landlords), the market has been very busy over the last month and Boston apartments are renting at a record pace. After speaking to several prominent area landlords and real estate professionals in the Back Bay, South End, and Fenway, it appears that they are all on pace to meet their historical vacancy rates of sub 5%.  Despite the break from routine, landlords are happy with the last minute rush.

For those still scrambling to find a unit for September 1, 2010, don’t worry, some (picked over) inventory still remains, and with landlords anxious to fill units, Boston renters are in a position to negotiate fees and other items.

There are many ways to find the best apartment, whether to rent or to buy. Here we’re going to talk about five non-newspaper ways to find Boston apartments. Finding an apartment in Boston is not always easy, with inventory sometimes turning very fast. Most people will immediately turn to the newspaper when searching for apartments for rent, but there are many other ways through which you can get a nice apartment that matches your needs, desires and budget. Here are just a handful of the ways you can find the perfect apartment without ever opening up another newspaper.

1. Brokers: You might be aware that there are many broker agencies that work with apartments for rent, oftentimes housing a team of specialists within the brokerage that focus solely on rentals. You can get help from them and they’ll assist you in finding something that is perfect for your needs. Keep in mind that they will oftentimes charge for their services – oftentimes not directly, but indirectly. If you have a budget to afford it, then you can easily get an apartment that has everything you need. This is a great option if you simply don’t have the time to carry out the hunt entirely on your own. They’ll search for you and you’ll only spend time going to look at apartments for rent when they find one that seems to be just what you’re looking for – in terms of budget, needs, location and amenities you’d like to have.

2. Word-of-mouth: Always keep your ears open when you’re on the hunt for an apartment. You can ask your colleagues if they know of any and ask them to also keep an ear out for you. They can contact their neighbors and if something comes up, you’ll find new opportunities you would have possibly never known about before. You will be surprised to know that this way you will be able to save lots of money as well, as you will more than likely not have to pay a broker’s fee.

3. Walking around Boston: Do you have an idea of the area you would like to live in? If so, get out and spend some time walking around in that area. Many times, owners place for rent signs in the windows of a brownstone or rowhouse, or on the gates surrounding a larger complex.

4. Housing offices: Find out what kind of local housing offices and services there are. You may be surprised at the deals you can find through these kinds of organizations. For instance, the Boston Housing Authority has several resources available. If you’re a college student, then you may want to contact the office of student housing at your institution.

5. Boston apartment referral services: These services aren’t particularly well known, but they are growing in popularity. They’re especially helpful if you are searching for apartments for rent on the Internet. The Internet is the perfect way to connect you to any area and you can find websites that offer specialized services to help you find an apartment in a distant area – ideal for students moving into an area of the city that they are not at all familiar with as new transplants. These sites will let you look for apartments based on various features like budget, location, area, number of bedrooms and other amenities.

If you’ve searched any Boston apartment website in the past few weeks, or even months, you’re bound to have run into several apartments for rent with leases that start on September 1, 2010 . So what gives, you’re asking? Why are there rentals for September already and hardly any rentals yet for June, July, or August?

The answer is that a majority of Boston landlords try to accommodate the school schedule by having leases start/end right around the September 1st date in order to attract undergrads, grads, and employees from one of the thirty colleges here in Boston. With more supply and demand for rentals on this schedule – and the turnover that comes with students who graduate, move, and/or switch apartments – it should come as no surprise that these rental listings are posted as early as February to attract the eager crowd.

Another reason for the focus on September 1st apartment leases in Boston is students are often out of the city during the summer and therefore can’t look at apartments during the summer. This means that going by the industry standard lease up time of 30-45 days prior to move in can’t apply to these renters as they need to start looking in May at the latest. Since the rest of the summer months don’t tend to apply to this school schedule, the advanced notice from residing tenants is not needed as the apartments are unlikely to be rented to students, hence the reason you don’t see as many rental listings posted yet for these (summer) months.

If you are looking for a Boston apartment rental for move in during any other month but September, I would suggest starting your search 30-45 days prior to your move. If you are looking to move in September, you can start as soon as you’d like, but get a move on it if you’re looking for an apartment near BU, Northeastern, Berklee or Boston Conservatory, they’re renting quickly!

Ah, Craigslist: Everyone’s go-to web resource for obscure knick-knacks, used furniture, job prospects and rental properties. In a post recently published on Unplgged, the tech-savvy branch of the DIY abode blog Apartment Therapy, tips and tricks are outlined for those looking to sell their stuff on the multi-city classifieds site. These pointers focus primarily on good, modest photography that showcase your hand-me-down wears at their best, and in their surroundings, in order to sway potential buyers. If detailed photos and descriptions are good for hawking your used furniture, why not apply the same logic to apartments and rental properties?

The Unplgged post led to us pondering Craigslist and its relationship with real estate in general. It’s easy to come up with a correlation between the user-generated postings and real estate listings on Craigslist, while making note of how the Unplugged tips can apply to real estate agents that need a little something extra for their listings. Listing properties on Craigslist can be a quick, cheap and easy way to syndicate a real estate listing and get it exposure not otherwise provided by a region’s Multiple Listing Service. A simple “FOR RENT” post for an apartment or home can provide just the boost a property needs to get it rented or sold.

But, with all good things free and easy comes temptation for abuse. In a post published last summer on Canonfire entitled Scammin’, it’s pointed out that finding real ads amidst the con artistry can prove to be a difficult task for consumers. In the post, three scams are exposed and it explains how these scams are designed to take advantage of would be renter’s who are just trying to find a place to live. Here’s a look at the top 3 Craigslist rental scams:

1. Scam number 1 is a rental ad that contains no name, phone number or property location and the only means of contact is an email address. When a potential renter inquires about the property they are asked to fill-out a rental application, send it back, and then they will receive more property information …but they never do. This type ad is usually a “phishing” attempt to get personal information, including a social security number, on a rental application for a property that does not exist.
2. Scam number 2 appears to be an ad to lease an actual home, but instead, is a ploy to get renters to move in a home that is pending foreclosure. In this case, the individual placing the ad pockets rental money without paying their mortgage company …all the while, the home is in foreclosure proceedings and the renter will be evicted once the foreclosure is final.
3. Scam number 3 is an ad to rent a property for an unbelievably low price. When those seeking to rent call they are connected with a rental agency that induces them into paying $170+/- for a “list” that has addresses of several unbelievably priced properties. Needless to say, the addresses for the unbelievably low priced rental properties do not exist or the properties were conveniently rented as soon as the list was delivered.

In an age where people prefer to tweet their thoughts or click a “Like” button on Facebook in order to form an opinion, websites like Craigslist are fast becoming a go to source for listing agents and renters, as well as Internet predators looking to take advantage of the naive. Thus, when using such sites to find bargains or list properties, all users should probably use caution since this is a medium that has been associated with scam artists. The Latin Phrase “Caveat Emptor”, meaning Let the buyer beware, has never rang more true.