Colorado Springs Vintage Homes Blog

Renters, do your due diligence

It’s time for Renters to be Careful!

For a free Buyers Guide, Email Kathy Torline at KTorline@msn.com

Sorry to say, with the current foreclosures hitting the Colorado Springs housing market, renters need to do some extra homework before they rent a house in Colorado Springs.  There have been a variety of stories that have hit the local news media about renters moving into a house that is going into foreclosure, then they get evicted.  Here’s a couple of steps that a renter can do to help them prevent from being evicted for no fault of their own.

• Check the El Paso County Assessors office (www.elpasoco.com) and see who owns the property.   Make sure you are actually talking to the landlord (owner) of the property.   If you are talking to a management company, make sure they are authorized to rent the property.

  • There have been a couple of occasions where renters have paid their rent payment and deposit to people who don’t even own the property.  Essentially they “take the money and run”.

• Check the Public Trustee office in El Paso County (www.elpasopublictrustee.com) and make sure the property isn’t going through foreclosure.  It’s a very comprehensive web site and you can search by address for any property in El Paso County.
  • If the property has started the pre-foreclosure process; you can find out the status and the actual sale date of the property.

• Ask for references. It doesn’t hurt to talk to others who have leased properties from the landlord.

• Don’t pay for months of rent in advance.  
  • If they are asking for 3 months rent, plus a security deposit, question why.
• If something seems to good to be true, it probably is.  

Remember, Knowledge is Power

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To find out more information about buying or renting a home in Colorado Springs or Manitou Springs, call ….

Kathy (719-287-1049)   KTorline@msn.com

Tags: Colorado Springs rental homes, Colorado Springs rentals, El Paso County Assesor, El Paso Public Trustee, rental scams in Colorado Springs, tips for renters

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 1st, 2009 at 4:42 am and is filed under Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs Homes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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