Avoiding rental scams

In brief

No landlord or agency may ask you for money before a viewing, or ask you to "reserve" a home with a bank transfer. Stay on Leasy: your conversations are protected here. In doubt, report.

The three habits

1. Never pay before you have seen the home. No landlord or agency may ask you for money before a viewing, or ask you to "reserve" a home with a bank transfer.

2. Stay on Leasy. Your conversations are protected here: your contact details stay hidden until your application is accepted, and Leasy flags suspicious messages (money orders, prepaid vouchers, a landlord who is "abroad"…). Do not move the conversation to another messaging app: Leasy cannot help you anywhere else.

3. Pay in the app, and only what the app asks. For a lease signed on Leasy, the first payment and rent are paid in Leasy: by direct debit, by card, or by bank transfer to the dedicated IBAN shown in the app. For a lease managed by an agency or added by the landlord, the transfer goes to the account and with the reference shown on the lease screen. Never transfer money to an IBAN sent by message, and never pay by money order, voucher or cryptocurrency.

What Leasy does

• Suspicious messages get an "Attention" banner in the conversation.
• The exact address is only given once a viewing is booked.
• Every listing says whether it comes from a Private landlord or a Professional.
• You can report a listing or a conversation, and your reports stay anonymous to the landlord.

See Scam warning signs and Report a listing.