DON'T FALL VICTIM OF TENANT SCAMS

Cape Town - For many consumers, rent is their biggest monthly expense. So it's hardly surprising that scam artists are out to target landlords through identity theft in an effort to avoid paying their dues.
This particular type of fraud is quite common – and what is most concerning is how easy it is to become a victim.
“We’ve seen a definite rise in tenants using identity theft to scam their landlords,” says Michelle Dickens, managing director of registered credit bureau TPN.
She explains that this is most often accomplished either through the manipulation of ID documentation or through the theft of a family member’s identity.
“One of the recent incidents we encountered involved a tenant who signed a lease with the landlord and proceeded to hand over a false proof of payment. Not knowing that the payment was false, the landlord handed over the keys.
"It was several days before they realised they had not actually been paid and issued a letter of demand. Initially, the letter of demand could not be processed because they had been given the wrong ID number. The landlord, with the help of TPN, tracked down the correct ID number and issued the letter of demand,” Dickens relates.
By the time the landlords managed to evict the tenant, they had sustained the loss of eight months’ rent as well as an outstanding electricity bill. Not to mention the fact that the tenant was vindictive, vandalising property on departure.
Dickens urges landlords to protect themselves from this type of rent scam by being thorough in their administrative processes.
“Never accept a photocopy of an identity document as valid ID, make sure that you see a copy of the original and that the person in front of you is the same person photographed in the document. Also remain strict about running credit checks on potential tenants,” she advises.
In cases where landlords perceive red flags, credit bureaus such as TPN are able to assist with further background research.
Other fraud tactics that landlords should be aware of include tenants conning other individuals without negative credit histories into co-signing a lease agreement with them so that their own credit history will be overlooked, as well as tenants stealing the identities of family members or altering a number on their ID document.
“The alteration of isolated numbers such as date of birth should be relatively easy to spot, as naturally the ID number will no longer match. In cases such as these, typing the ID number into the credit bureau will quickly provide evidence that something is amiss,” informs Dickens.
With incidents of fraud and identity theft on the increase, landlords simply cannot afford to be caught unawares.
Maintaining vigilance during tenant screening and the signing of lease agreements is vital if they are to avoid falling victim to rent scams.

Law to bar foreign ownership of SA farms

 

Feb 12 2013 22:29 Sapa

 

"All people who are foreign nationals will not own land, but will lease land on a long-term basis," said Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti. (Picture: Beeld)

Paarl - Foreign nationals will no longer be able to own land in South Africa once government’s land policy is finalised and passed into law, Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti said on Tuesday.

"All people who are foreign nationals will not own land, but will lease land on a long-term basis," he said.

Nkwinti was responding to a question during a "dialogue" with farm workers in Paarl.

The question had to do with foreign ownership of farms.

The minister said government had completed an audit of state-owned land, but was still busy with its audit of public and private land.

"Privately-owned land includes land which is owned by foreigners. We are busy auditing all of that land," he said.

When the audits are complete and government's policy is promulgated into law then "people who are foreign nationals will not own land, but will lease land on a long-term basis", said Nkwinti.

Nkwinti said the matter was being attended to by government.

Speaking earlier, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said the recently-announced R105 a day wage for farm workers was a minimum wage, and did not mean farmers could not pay more.

He said some farms involved in export production could afford to pay more than this.

Davies described agricultural labour as "an unorganised sector". "You are not organised in unions," he told around 200 farm workers who gathered at the venue for the event.

"If you get a sufficient number of people enrolled in a trade union, you have the right to invoke provisions of the Labour Relations Act," he said.

Davies noted that many of the people he was addressing wore red Fawu or white Bawusa T-shirts. He added: "Now go and negotiate, and get yourself a better wage!"

He said at some rural Western Cape clinics the biggest illness being treated was not HIV/Aids, but malnutrition.

Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said cheap labour was now a thing of the past.

"Cheap labour is no longer going to be tolerated," she said.

Earlier on Tuesday, a similar dialogue was held with farmers and commercial farming organisations.