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Original poster

renting an apartment in New York

6 replies

carlajean · 23/04/2013 06:11

I've just put down a deposit to rent an apartment in NY for 5 nights. the website, Local nomad, seemed OK, but the response, and also the request for a larger deposit, seemed dodgy. so..I googled 'holiday apartment renting New York' and it seems I might have fallen for a scam. luckily we haven't paid the whole amount, but it looks as though I might have lost £170 deposit. Before I totally panic, has anyone successfully rented from this company in NY?

OP posts:

Lifeisontheup · 23/04/2013 06:26

Just back having rented an apartment, what company is it? There are complicated laws about short term lets in New York but most companies get round them. We used staysmart, the deposit was large but didn't have any problems although googling it before we went did frighten us until we asked around.

Original poster

carlajean · 23/04/2013 06:51

mycitychalet - which has some negative feedback (I find out now )

OP posts:

AttilaTheMeerkat · 23/04/2013 06:57

I'm sorry but you will likely not get any of the £170 you paid back (did you by chance pay this by credit card?). Think you've been scammed, there are so many scammers out there in this particular field and laws regarding short term lets in NYC itself are themselves extremely strict. Many lets on other such rental websites are infact illegal.

Original poster

carlajean · 23/04/2013 07:26

I did pay by credit card, do you think I'm likely to get it covered by my card protection and have it refunded?

OP posts:

Longdistance · 23/04/2013 07:34

It's worth asking your cc company.

I rented an apartment in NY through a company called homeaway.com. They were very good. The apartment we stayed at was on 73rd West. With the subway being at 72nd west Broadway.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 23/04/2013 08:29

Its certainly worth asking the cc company.

The old adage however, applies, "if it looks too good to be true it probably is".

There are many out there who have been similarly scammed. All these websites look "okay" but it does not mean to say that they actually offer what is on there (also the website does not carry any company address of any kind, only phone numbers). These sites as well do not check to see if these are also genuine listings.

Due diligence is certainly advised when dealing with websites offering rentals in NYC; many offered rentals are now illegal and NYC as a city has cracked down on such rentals since 2011 through legal statutes.

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