Hillel Realty + NYCPROPERTYGUY SCAM
Hey y’all, long time lurker first time poster here just to warn everyone on this sub about an agent named Mikael Johnson and Hillel Realty. I recently lost ~5000$ to this scam and I just want everyone to be smarter than me. DON’T be like me and drop ANY money before confirming the apartment actually exists and your landlord/broker is a real person and you have met them. im a dumb college student who is currently houseless and I threw my money at the first person who said they had an apartment to rent me and I definitely payed the price. No apartment in NYC is gonna have every single amenity you want AND be in your budget (unless u got that kind of money) so you need to be vigilant and vet EVERY single aspect of the apartment you are looking at. unfortunately I found this agent/group through a friend and i followed through with it because i trusted the person who put me onto the group, not the group itself. ive attached some images of the “agent” and the paperwork i’ve received. unfortunately Hillel Realty is an actual company from all i’ve researched so some bad actor is out there using their name to scam people. be smart yall, and happy apartment hunting!