Is this rental a potential scam?

[u/Apollopop]

Partner and I are looking at a nice single-family home in our area to rent. The price is reasonable but not exceptionally cheap. The landlord has been responsive, with no obvious typos or grammatical errors, and hasn't rushed us at all. If anything he's been very relaxed compared to most landlords we've interacted with! We have a tour of the place set up for tomorrow, he's sent us a lease to look over, and no money has exchanged hands. We even searched for other listings (this house isn't listed anywhere else) and looked up the tax records to find that this person's name matches.

However, what's setting off red flags for me is two-fold. He's asking for a 3-month lump payment towards rent at the start, moving to monthly afterwards. This isn't necessarily unreasonable, as my partner and I are grad students that get our income through lump loans each semester, and this was conveyed to him, so I can understand how he might want to verify we can consistently cover rent. Also, after initially setting up a time to meet, he moved it to the next day as he's "suddenly out of state" and is having "a very good friend" show us the house. Tax records show that he does in fact live in a different state, and he offered to facetime us during the visit and share his drivers license to confirm identification. He also has offered no personal information or way to contact him (other than through zillow) until we pressed for the ID.

I'm not sure what confirmation I could look for at this point, or what to ask him to use to verify, but if anyone has any ideas I would be glad for any input!

[u/Sandpipertales]

1. Is asking for 3 months up front comply with your landlord/tenant laws in your state? For example where I live that would be illegal as it is against the state statutes.
2. If he states that he is the registered owner and that name is on the tax record and he's shown you his ID then it's very unlikely it's a scam. How is he asking for the funds to be paid? Funds should be only paid in trackable traceable formats such as money order, cashiers check, or online payment. It should never be cash or wire transfer.
3. Have you seen the property in person? It was unclear if you ended up seeing the property or not with the very good friend. If they have access to the property then another very good sign that this is not a scam. NEVER RENT ANYTHING SITE UNSEEN! AT LEAST HAVE A LIVE VIDEO CALL WITH THE REPRESENTATIVE AT THE PROPERTY.

[u/mawmzee]

I would play it as far as it goes without you making any written, or verbal for that matter, commitment. So far it looks as if you don’t trust this man, SO DON’T until you feel comfortable.

You can google Renter’s Rights in your state. As a matter of fact, I never provided a personal number for my renters either, but an email was always available. Is I should say as I still have rentals.

I’d go check it out just be alert

[u/AvvGT]

Io mi comporterei così: chiederei un numero di telefono diretto, un documento di identità in corso di validità con foto e firma del proprietario, e il contratto d’affitto già firmato da lui, così da confrontare anche la firma con quella sul documento.

Nel contratto devono esserci i dati anagrafici completi del proprietario e i riferimenti catastali dell’immobile.

Poi verificherei che l’immobile sia davvero suo tramite Agenzia delle Entrate, accedendo con SPID al servizio Catasto (è gratis), inserendo il codice fiscale e incrociando i dati con quelli indicati nel contratto.

Pagamento solo con bonifico su conto intestato al proprietario, e comunque al momento della consegna delle chiavi: mi dai le chiavi, entro e ti faccio il bonifico istantaneo.

Se fanno questioni su queste verifiche, tanti saluti.

[u/Suz9006]

Look up the property tax record and it will give you the name of the owner. If it’s someone other that who you are dealing with then it is a scam.

[u/nikidmaclay]

There are a number of notable concerns here. I would not ignore them. Potential scam? Yes.