Dear trust7 members,

this is just to warn you not to pay anything in advance when you are going to rent an apartment!!! Because it is getting harder and harder to find an apartment, especially in big cities, criminals pretend to have a beautiful flat to rent and ask you to pay a caution/deposit to get the contract, but when you want to move in, there is nothing!!

Even the contract can be a fake so be sure that the person who offers the subject has the right to do it!

I just read about this in my morning newspaper and I wanted to share this.

Have a good week

Detlef

Hello Detlef,

Thanks for informing us.  Is there any document from rathaus which establishes ownership of a property?

CeBIT

Hi CeBIT,

yes, there is a place called 'Grundbuchamt' (land registry office) where every property of real estate is listed, but this is a bit to complex to use it for verification for renting, but for buying it is strongly recommended!

For renting it should be fine just not pay in advance, do not pay anything in cash and maybe talk to the neighbours of the apartment about the owner and/or the property management.

Ciao
Detlef