Vancouver Condo Info

Rumor Mill: Spectrum rent scam

I very seldom report on rumors, but this one from Jesse seems like the right balance of unbelievable and believable:

Here’s a sneak peak at a story you might be seeing in the next few weeks: a friend of mine who rents in Spectrum 4 told me one person rented close to 30 suites in the building and sublet them. He pocketed 2 months of sublet rent, not paying rent himself of course, before skipping town.

If the story is true, let’s hope the MSM picks it up. Sounds like a great leader. Remember: you heard it at VCI first.

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26 Responses to “Rumor Mill: Spectrum rent scam”

1. 1

   oracle Says:
   November 20th, 2008 at 11:17 pm

   number 1…………………. yeahh baby

   Current score: -46

2. 2

   Anonymous Says:
   November 20th, 2008 at 11:33 pm

   I’m not saying this isn’t possible, but how could someone pull this off? How could you sublet out that many units in a building without paying any rent yourself?

   Current score: 3

3. 3

   condohype Says:
   November 20th, 2008 at 11:58 pm

   Seems a little too complex. The classic scam is the damage deposit ripoff. This is when someone shows a suite they don’t own to a number of applicants. It’s usually priced right, so the applicants all apply and provide damage deposits. The thief cashes the cheques and skips town. This I can see happening at Spectrum. But what Jesse describes is a larger con…

   Current score: 2

4. 4

   Patiently Waiting Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 12:00 am

   Maybe he paid the half months legal damage deposit, then took off before he made his first months rent.

   Its actually illegal to charge two months rent up front, and its unfortunate that didn’t tip off the subletting renters that something funny was going on.

   So he may have paid a half months rent and walked away with two months rent for 30 condos. That’s tens of thousands of dollars, if its true.

   Current score: 0

5. 5

   Anon Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 1:36 am

   I think rents should go down big time. Having to earn money and then pay tax and then give so much of it away for rent is not healthy. That is when you have a job. And when you don’t, it is completely unreal because it is very difficult to accumulate savings after paying taxes, rent, etc. And if rent goes down, then RE price levels will have even more correcting to do…

   Current score: -3

6. 6

   blueskies Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 7:26 am

   oracle Says:
   November 20th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
   number 1…………………. yeahh baby
   Current score: -13

   oracle:
   you of all people
   should have seen this coming

   Current score: 3

7. 7

   jesse Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 7:45 am

   I emailed Kirk Williams at CBC so maybe he can find out if there is something to it. My source I consider reliable but maybe he was fed incorrect info from the Spectrum IV strata.

   He was saying he noticed the same guy constantly taking people in elevators and thought it a bit weird but, hey, it’s Vancouver right? Then apparently an owner tries to evict due to failure to pay rent and they find someone else living in the unit with a different lease. Uh oh. They search through rental records of other owners and lo, the same guy shows up multiple times. Maybe it’s not true but it is certainly possible given the sheer number of unique landlords.

   I shall wait for MSM to confirm.

   Current score: 0

8. 8

   Rent drop alert! Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 8:35 am

   Rent was $995… now $850:

   http://vancouver.en.craigslist.....50255.html

   Current score: 0

9. 9

   Gadwin Says:
   November 21st, 2008 at 8:47 am

   Spectrum is the pinnacle of specuvestor haven. Quality is mediocre, tenants are loud and disprespectful of property, and the shoebox condos are OVERPRICED.

   Current score: 4

10. 10

    Anonymous Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 8:55 am

    I will buy your property if you buy mine.

    http://vancouver.en.craigslist.....59669.html

    Say what????

    Current score: -1

11. 11

    Mold City Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 9:00 am

    Its actually illegal to charge two months rent up front

    I may be wrong here, but I believe it’s entirely legal to charge one months rent up front, half month security deposit and another half month pet deposit. That would equal two months of rent.

    Current score: 2

12. 12

    bdk Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 9:12 am

    Well said Gadwin.
    Asking for a deposit cheque and the first months rent is pretty standard IMHO
    In theory the half month (or full with pet) deposit goes into a trust account.

    Traditionally the scam is to rent one house or apartment and then rent it out to numberous people or a property manager of a building takes all the deposits and disappears.
    The only flaw with one person renting 30 times is that the credit checks would show on their file and you’d hope anyone renting a unit out at spectrum would step back if he/she saw that ten other property management companies had checked the applicants credit (at least 1/3 of property managers must check credit since it’s the only way to check out a tenant, references aren’t worth the paper they are printed on, would you give a tenant you wanted to move out a bad reference?). However if someone pulled it off that’s pretty slick.

    Anecdotally I have heard that spectrum has the highest proprotion of renters and late teen/early 20’s “owners” of all the buildings and it’s full of high end restaurant staff (who sometimes make more than the dealers and hookers), dealers and hookers and who can forget international students.

    Current score: -1

13. 13

    bdk Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 9:16 am

    Oh and the problem with the service industry (”high end restaurant staff”) is they get off work at 12-4am and don’t go straight to bed so it leads to noise in the middle of the night.

    Current score: 1

14. 14

    bdk2 Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 9:21 am

    I mostly ask my tenents at the time of rent to deposit cheques for one year with deposit and monthly rents people who scam don’t really like this idea that’s what makes my day ever after.

    Cheques provide guaranteed access to freez accounts through court order plus it’s easy for police to track the scammers.

    Current score: -2

15. 15

    Potato Hat Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 9:28 am

    I dunno. Wouldn’t the scammer have to put down at least the damage deposit to even get access to the units? More likely damage deposit + 1 months rent? Multiplied by 30, that’s a lot of money to put up front for what appears to be a really risky scheme. I’m not suggesting that crooks are great at risk adjusted cost-benefit analysis, but still…

    Doing this on a scale of 1 or 2 units I could see. But 30?

    Current score: 1

16. 16

    Spectrum Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 9:30 am

    So if this is true shouldn’t there be an extra 30 units for rent now?

    Current score: 2

17. 17

    Don Lapre Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 9:35 am

    I miss the Friday Free For All!!

    Current score: 3

18. 18

    thums up4 Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 9:44 am

    Yaletown assignment at the Beasley by Amacon. 1 bedroom & den. Price includes 1 parking stall. Free up-grade of tiling in the den. We paid $447,900 in March 08 - price includes $25K paid for 1 parking spot which could be sold after completion. Our circumstances have changed and we are unable to proceed. We are willing to give up our $33,593 downpayment already made. This is a pet-friendly building with its own doggy exercise area - due to be completed in early 2011.

    Current score: -3

19. 19

    john Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 9:56 am

    I fail to see the problem here. He just provided a service kind of like a referal. I’m sure this is completely legal. Sounds like a good business venture. I’ll do some more research and report back. I’m off to buy an escalade from a guy down on the east side I met on the street. He’s giving me a deal because he doesn’t have the keys for it.

    Current score: 10

20. 20

    The Pope Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 10:29 am

    I miss the Friday Free For All!!

    Hey Don, I just posted it.
    Technically it’s still Friday so we’re still on schedule

    Current score: 1

21. 21

    Anonymous Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 10:38 am

    A building property manager from Rancho says that some units were rented by owners that way < 6 ! It was apparently caught early on, and the potential for more had been quite possible. (Possibly the # 30 came from the attempted but unsuccessfull scam).

    Current score: 1

22. 22

    mk-kids Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 10:41 am

    Ah John, you bring a smile to my day buddy…

    Current score: 0

23. 23

    NO -LYMPICS Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 7:30 pm

    Now I know where Spectrum is…it’s that building near GM place which has Costco in it,..right ?.

    http://www.concordpacific.com/.....heYear.pdf

    P.S. Gee…how could bad things happen to God’s gift to Vancouver?

    Current score: 0

24. 24

    Anonymous Says:
    November 27th, 2008 at 11:46 am

    This wasn’t just in building 4. The guy is named Norm King, and he’s been scamming people for quite some time:

    http://www.ripoffreport.com/se.....=norm+king

    He screwed the people he was renting from, the people he was subletting to, and even the internet company!

    Current score: 0

25. 25

    Spectrum lover Says:
    November 28th, 2008 at 5:16 pm

    Norm King is a crook!

    Current score: 0

26. 26

    Anonymous11 Says:
    December 8th, 2008 at 6:28 pm

    That story is not completely true. He did pay rent, and he didn’t skip town, he’s still running the business just on a smaller scale. At one point there were upwards of 40 apartments involved. He keeps the security deposits. The police know but they can’t do anything because there’s no paper trail. He deals only in cash and nothing is in writing. In my opinion he’s somewhat of a criminal genius.

    Current score: 0