Renting a house we havent seen from a landlord in another country

Zendetta

Hi all, hope you can help.
We have an odd situation where we have found the perfect property to rent but from a landlord who currently lives abroad and thusly we haven't seen the place in person, only pictures and videos.
Guess first question is how safe are we paying and signing for a property we have never seen?
Second question is; the landlord lists the property (were about to rent) as their address in the contract. This feels very suspect, surely they have to list their address as their actual residence and obviously they aren't going to be living with us?

Seashell517

Sounds like a scam. Does the landlord not have a contact in the country that can let you view? (If not, how do you even get the keys?!) How did the landlord advertise the property?

[Deleted User]

 Scam, you forward rent in advance and deposit and never hear from them again. 

HampshireH

Definitely sounds like a scam

Have you been to the property and confirmed it's even empty ?

MaryNB

Sounds like a very common scam. Scammers says they can't travel to the property for a particular reason (obviously at the moment they're using covid as an excuse) and if you insist on a viewing they tell you to go to the property and have a look in the windows. They promise to sent you the key once you pay the deposit and then you never hear from them again.

If they live abroad they should really have a local letting agent who can physically be there to show people around. 

davidmcn

What method of payment is your "landlord" proposing you use?

Annisele

You could pay £3 or so to the Land Registry and see if the name on the register matches the name of the "landlord". But if it does match, that might just show you that your scammer is a bit more sophisticated than the run-of-the-mill scammers.

jimbog

It's a scam

Zendetta

Annisele said:

You could pay £3 or so to the Land Registry and see if the name on the register matches the name of the "landlord". But if it does match, that might just show you that your scammer is a bit more sophisticated than the run-of-the-mill scammers.

This is actually what ive done, the name, email and address all match. The property was also listed for sale and ive taken a virtual tour. I guess that only proves this person has done the same as me and is pretending to be the correct person. 

Zendetta

davidmcn said:

What method of payment is your "landlord" proposing you use?

This is the bit im waiting to see. If its a UK bank account and the names match am i safe to pay? Surely if it is a scam i can get this money back through criminal action?

davidmcn

Zendetta said:

davidmcn said:

What method of payment is your "landlord" proposing you use?

This is the bit im waiting to see. If its a UK bank account and the names match am i safe to pay? Surely if it is a scam i can get this money back through criminal action?

No, and no.
Besides, why on earth would you sign up and pay for a property you haven't viewed? Nobody does that.