//3 renters on getting screwed over by landlords during the Covid-19 housing crisis

3 renters on getting screwed over by landlords during the Covid-19 housing crisis

The Covid-19 pandemic has been extra challenging for renters. | Busà Photography / Getty Images

“It’s so hard to find an apartment right now.”

In July, Sean was looking for an apartment in the Bay Area for his first semester of grad school at UC Berkeley. He connected with someone on a housing Facebook group who sent him what appeared to be a legitimate lease. He inked the deal, wired over the security deposit, and heaved a sigh of relief.

But then, a few days after agreeing to the terms, the alleged landlord deleted her Facebook account. Fearing the worst, he made a phone call to the building his new apartment was supposed to be in. They gave him the bad news — the unit didn’t exist. He had just been scammed in the middle of a pandemic.

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