Some of you may be familiar wth my long-standing practice of referring to apartment rental services as maggots.
I’ve decided that reference is unfair to maggots which, unlike most rental services, do have some beneficial uses. Henceforth I’m rebranding rental services as bedbugs. It’s a more resonant description and, given recent headlines, far better search engine bait.
Several of the bedbugs infested Evanston years ago and now it appears, from the screen cap of a Craigslist ad above, they’re infesting other suburbs. The second part of the ad, for a 2-bedroom condo for rent at 622 Cobblestone in Glenview for $1,100 a month. Here’s the balance of the Craigslist ad.
I wasn’t able to find any contact info for “Chicagoland Rentals,” the company referenced in the ad, nor was I able to find the requisite state broker license for the firm.
More relevant yet, the condo pictured in the ad is not available for rent, according to Caroline Gau, the agent who has it listed for sale as a short sale for $98,000, and who stated she was unaware it was being advertised on Craigslist and had not authorized the use of any MLS photos.
I left a message at the phone number in the ad and heard back from an individual who identified himself as John Meyers from Chicagoland Rentals. He claims to be a licensed broker and stated that the owner of the property authorized him to rent it and supplied him with the photos without identifying their source.
My caller stated he has a broker license under the name John Meyers and had used his full name in the Craigslist ad. He had not, as you can see, done so. When I challenged him politely on his failure to comply with state brokerage licensing laws regarding advertising of his correct name / company affiliation, he immediately hung up on me.
The takeaway: don’t let a bedbug bite you. If you can’t verify that a Craigslist ad from what appears to be a rental service is from a licensed broker, don’t respond to the ad. Make your search for homes and condos for rent simpler – and safer – by using one of the sites from licensed, established brokers and skipping Craigslist’s dregs list entirely.
I’ve had my house listings re-listed in rental scams on craigslist… with tons of people trying to rent it, showing up at the house etc…
Just yesterday a client of mine (who is looking rental or buying) said he found craiglist, and anyone he contacted from the site, impossible.
When looking to buy a house or apartment, skip craigslist. It’s just not worth breaking through the clutter and scams. I know people still do find places there from time to time, but it’s getting riskier all the time.
Hello Joe,
I am the owner of this Glenview condo and obtained full approval from Caroline Gau to rent it out on my own if I could.
John Meyers is an IL licensed broker specializing in rentals and was unaware that I have been trying to sell it. In addition, John only used the photos that I emailed him.
You should get your facts straight before trying to tarnish someone’s image.
Sincerely,
Kiril Zumbulev, owner of this condo
Kiril,
You haven’t cited a single fact that I got wrong.
I reported Meyers’ claim to hold a broker’s license personally, and his statement that you supplied the photos..
I don’t know what you told Meyers, if anything, about the fact that you had a signed listing agreement with another broker. He expressed surprise to me that the property was subject to a listing agreement and in the MLS. Your sales agent was certainly unaware that you had authorized another broker to rent the property.
Did you check whether you had signed an exclusive listing agreement that would bar you from listing the property for rent with another broker?
Unless I’m missing something you failed to deal fairly and openly with both of the brokers you retained.
The ad speaks for itself as to whether John Meyers complied with the Illinois brokerage law regarding advertising his true identity. He didn’t, and that was my main point. Meyers, if that is in fact his name, tarnished his own image. I think his prompt removal of the ad from Craigslist should tell you something.
By the way, are you amused by the fact that the pictures you say you supplied are appearing in another Craigslist ad, this one from a RE/MAX agent?
Kiril,
Perhaps I haven’t tarnished the image of John Meyers as thoroughly as I ought to have, so let me supplement a bit. He looks to be, in my not-so-humble opinion, a typical low-life rental service bedbug.
A John Meyers, with the phone number that appears in the Craigslist ad (and many other CL ads), maintains a Web site in the name of The Meyers Group, Inc. at meyersgroupinc dot com.
According to the Illinois Secretary of State database The Meyers Group, Inc. was involuntarily dissolved in March of 1994. The typical reason for an involuntary dissolution is a failure to file an annual report and pay corporate franchise taxes.
I can’t find any record that John Meyers is a member of the local MLS.
Notwithstanding that, Meyers is advertising a number of MLS-listed properties at his Web site, using MLS photos in the ads and making no reference to the listing brokers.
For example, he advertises a home at 615 Scott in Schaumburg as a “Rent-to-Own with no money down” stating the rent as $2,000 a month.
The property is listed for sale with another broker at $434,900 and for rent through the same broker at $1,999.
The genuine listings make no reference to a rent-to-own option.