u/InterestingCloud369

I found a listing for a room rental on craigslist that seemed normal enough, one room in a three bedroom apartment with a shared bathroom.

However, the landlord will only take Chime for the application fee. I offered PayPal, Venmo, and Zelle because I’ve never used Chime before and it looks kind of sketchy.

The application fee is $80, which seems kind of steep for the area. He said it’s refundable if I don’t end up moving into the house.

Other weird things about the interaction:

- The listing had no photos. When the landlord texted me after I sent an email about my interest, I asked for photos of the space. The landlord sent back a screenshot of the craigslist post? The one that I had replied to?

- When the person finally did send a picture of the room, I asked for a picture of the shared bathroom the landlord sent a picture of what he called “the private bathroom”.

- The amount of monthly rent the landlord mentioned was $50 more than what the listing had said. It’s not a massive difference, but with the other inconsistencies it felt a bit weird.

- When I took more than 5 minutes to reply to a text, the landlord would double and triple text “Hello?” and “I’m waiting”. I’ve never had a landlord be so pushy about getting me to fill out an application/pay the fee as soon as possible.

Am I overthinking this? Or is it a scam?

I haven’t downloaded chime or done anything to move forward with the application. Something just feels off.

I know that even if it’s a legit housing situation and an actual landlord, it might not be worth it to sign a lease with someone this disorganized and intense. I’m just curious if anyone has heard of a scam like this.

Did this person really go through the trouble of writing up a whole fake rental listing just to scam people out of the application fee?

Thank you.