Maine
Beware of these proliferating Maine rental scams
Housing
This section of the BDN aims to help readers understand Maine’s housing crisis, the volatile real estate market and the public policy behind them. Read more Housing coverage here.
A unicorn apartment was listed in the pricey city of Ellsworth: a 2-bedroom with all utilities included for just $700 per month.
If that sounds too good to be true, it is, and the scam was not hard to detect.
The unit was posted by an anonymous Facebook user in a local forum without a specific address. A palm tree was faintly visible through the front door in one photo. When a reporter inquired about the post, someone used a Montana company’s name and sent a link to apply for a private showing in exchange for a $70 deposit.
A quick call to the Montana company, which deals only in home sales in that state, is not behind the scam listing. A representative said the agency gets daily calls from Facebook users around the nation telling them scammers are impersonating them.
These kinds of apartment listing scams, often seen on Facebook or Craigslist, have picked up steam in recent years as the nation’s housing crisis deepens and more have become desperate for affordable places to live. The scams often promise below-market rents in cities squeezed for that kind of inventory, meaning the fraudsters target those who are most vulnerable.
“Rental scams in a very tight market are very prevalent,” Phil Chin, a lead volunteer with AARP Maine’s fraud watch network, said. “People under the pressure of income are trying to get the best for a lower price, and seniors are always at disadvantage only because they don’t have the wherewithal to do all this checking around.”
These kinds of scams are “unconscionable” for targeting families looking for affordable housing, Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a statement. His office has received multiple complaints on the issue.
Many of the advertised units do not exist, the Federal Trade Commission wrote in an advisory. Some exist but are not for rent. One Maine homeowner recently discovered that his house was for rent on Craigslist without his knowledge, said Christopher Taub, Frey’s deputy. The ad included photos and almost got one renter to send money to a Nigerian email address.
“Fortunately, the shopper contacted the Maine homeowner and discovered the scam before sending any funds to the scam artist,” Taub said. “Other consumers haven’t been so lucky only to arrive at their paid vacation home for the week or new apartment to find out that it isn’t for rent at all.”
Often, Facebook users are wise to these scams and will comment that they appear to be one. But Facebook allows any poster to restrict their comments, allowing many fraudulent listings to go unchecked. Neither Craigslist nor Meta, Facebook’s parent company, responded to a request for comment on scam apartment listings.
To avoid being scammed, it’s important to confirm the person listing an apartment is legitimate or from a known and trusted business before sending them money, Taub said. Call the property management company and ask lots of questions or visit it yourself, the office advised.
The Federal Trade Commission recommends searching online for the rental location’s address and the name of the property owner. If the two don’t match, that’s a red flag. If there’s no address listed at all, like the Ellsworth unit, that’s another sign of a scam.
Though Maine landlords are allowed to charge application fees, it can only be for specific reasons including a background check, a credit check or some other screening process, according to Pine Tree Legal Assistance. Frey warns against paying any such fees by cash, wiring money, sending gift cards or paying by cryptocurrency, as you can’t get that money back.
“It’s a hard one to deal with. People are under income pressure,” said Chin of AARP Maine. “They have to be vigilant on their own, … but it’s hard to keep your wits about you when you’re facing eviction.”
Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
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