Rental Laws: 3 Types of Landlord Fraud

Rental lawsprotect tenants from many types of landlord fraud. Unfortunately, there are some landlords who make more money scamming tenants than renting apartments. Knowing what to look for can help you avoid trouble and recover any money you lose.

1. Security Deposit

The bulk of the complaints from tenants in the area of landlord fraud comes from the landlord withholding some of all of the security deposit after the tenant moves out. Rental laws dedicate what the landlord can take out of the security deposit as reimbursement for cleaning, repairs and other expenses, as well as how soon to return all or some of the security deposit. However, some landlords never intend to return the security deposit and use the following ways to hold on to the money:

• Excessive cleaning charges: They clean the apartment themselves and charge you for much or all of the deposit
• Exaggerated claims of damage: For example, charging $1,000 to clean up “pet odors and stains”
• Fake fees for painting: It either never gets done or doesn’t cost as much

Whenever your landlord charges fees that are deducted from the security deposit, ask for copies of the bills and receipts. If he gives you his own bills and receipt for doing his own work, then compare his rates to cleaning and home repair service companies in the area. Rental laws require the fees to be reasonable and not excessive.

2. Defective Premises

In many states, the rental laws don’t cover a landlord renting substandard or damaged premises as fraud, but the state’s consumer fraud statutes do. Under those laws, it would be fraudulent for a landlord to rent an apartment to a tenant that is known to be damaged or defective. If the tenant takes the landlord to court and wins, the landlord would have to pay for the tenant’s lawyer fees and the court will punish the landlord with “punitive damages,” which means the landlord will have to pay fines.

3. Identity Theft

No one wants to think that a potential or current landlord is going to steal their identity, but there are dishonest landlords who commit identity theft. This takes place on the rental application, where much of your personal information is collected, such your social security number and date of birth. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about the rental application if you want to rent the apartment. Landlords do have a right to determine whether you’re a risky tenant. However, you can do a lot to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft. For example, don’t fill out a rental application form with just anyone. It makes sense for apartment buildings, but not an individual landlord. Also, ask them to take one or the other, either the social security number or the birth date, but not both.

According to the rental laws in your state, the landlord can be liable for double and treble (3 times) damages for fraud. If you find yourself renting from a shady landlord, document everything and follow your lease agreement carefully in order to protect yourself while you look for alternative housing. Once you move out, do what you can to warn others, by taking legal action against the landlord for fraud.

Tags:

Raanan Katz Real Estate Get Rich Scheme

Kaanan Katz Real Estate Get Rich Scheme

by alwaytrue @ 2011-06-19 – 00:01:59

Raanan Katz the owner and founder of RK Associates created his “triple net lease scheme” to enrich himself.
In a triple net lease plan, the tenant pays a fixed rent and a significant share of the operating expenses, taxes and insurance associated with the commercial real estate unit.

Raanan Katz Triple Net Scheme involves extensive collection of monies claimed to be towards operating expenses from thousands of tenants. On tenants request, Ranan Katz and his companies refuse to disclose the actual operating expenses.
Raanan Katz’s son and partner Dan Katz says: “We do not provide these documents to the tenants”.
Raanan Katz and his companies have been served with the request for production of proof of operating expenses in several lawsuits with fraud allegations. Yet, these documents have not been seen by the tenants, attorneys, and the court.
In Massachusetts Raanan’s refusal to provide proof of repair expenses and lying to the court cost him sentence for criminal contempt in late 70s. However, nothing can stop this man, and his “operating expense” scheme works for his enrichment up to date.
Taking into consideration the fact that Raanan Katz and his companies have over 6,000,000 square feet of commercial spaces and thousands of tenants, this scheme practicing for decades allows him to pocket millions of dollars in overcharged operating expenses from unsuspicious tenants.

RK Associates and Raanan Katz overcharge tenants for common area maintenance (CAM)

Raanan Katz and His Commercial Lease Fraud Scheme

by alwaytrue @ 2011-06-14 – 03:10:59

Raanan Katz and his company RK Associates induce tenants to sign fraudulent commercial leases to enrich themselves. This is what Raanan Katz and RK Associates been doing

* RK Associates and Raanan Katz renew commercial leases without tenants consent, demanding money under exprired leases
* RK Associates and Raanan Katz overcharge tenants for common area maintenance (CAM)
* RK Associates and Raanan Katz manipulate operating expenses
* RK Associates and Raanan Katz collect double or triple rent for the same rental space, for the same period of time from different tenants
* RK Associates and Raanan Katz enter the leased premises by changing the lock, take private property without tenants consent and court orders.

“Under federal and state laws, consumers who have been wronged by leasing scams may be eligible to recover damages through a consumer fraud lawsuit. In the event that a group of consumers have been similarly harmed as a result of lease fraud, they may file a class action consumer fraud lawsuit.”

Several lawsuits have been filled against RK Associates and Raanan Katz alleging them in fraud, theft and more.

 

Discovery of widespread Landlord fraud

I started this blog when a client of mine informed me of a story that I could not believe but to my amazement it was true.

A certain businessman shopping center owner was bragging how much extra charges that he was charging for Common Area Maintenance for maintaining the Shopping centers. You see most commercial leases are what is called triple net lease. That means the lease rate a for example Payless Shoes pays is directly to the landlord is net of all expenses to operate the property. The commercial tenant must pay property taxes, insurance, maintenance, lighting so on and so fourth, well you get the picture.

Bottom line the Businessman said he pads these charges by 20% and the charges run about 20% of the net rent rate. He said he has 14 shopping centers and about 12 tenant in each center. At first it didn’t seem like a big deal but as a lawyer I began to think that this could not be legal. Then I started to put the numbers together average space at 3000 feet average rate at $1.50 so net rent 4500.00 and common area maintenance about 900.00. Our greedy landlord is pocketing about 180.00 on each tenant. So what, but the I began to put two and two together. He said he had 14 shopping centers and about 12 tenants each center and these charges where every month. I looked up the statute of limitations and found that a tenant could go back 4 years for overcharges. Each month on each center he is overcharging 2160.00 he had 14 centers   that’s $$$$30,240.00 a month. It was no wonder he was bragging. So let’s continue each year he was overcharging by $$$362,880.00 and if we go back 4 years that’s ONE MILLION FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS and he’s bragging about it.

So begins this blog on the pursuit of this and many frauds like it in the life of an attorney who like to litigate these types of cases to there ultimate end.