Lincoln Property Company cares about all of our residents and future residents, including you! In today’s digital age, it’s important to look out for signs of a scam when looking for your perfect apartment home.

If you’re in the market for a new apartment, consider the source of any listing you find outside of our website, lincolnapts.com, or the apartment community’s official website. If you find a listing outside of our website, on an online marketplace such as Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, among others, we recommend you always look up the community first and call the phone number from their website directly. All Lincoln Property Company apartment communities have their own individual website. You can always locate them on lincolnapts.com and find the link to their property website there.

Some scammers may spoof an apartment listing, claiming that an apartment is for rent for a great price and with unbelievable terms. Often, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. It’s important to be diligent and verify listings for accuracy and never send any payment until you’ve confirmed that the apartment listing is legitimate by contacting the property itself.

“So many of us use instant payment methods on our phones regularly, so it’s easy to become overly trusting and send money with a click before looking up the source,” said Margette Hepfner, Lincoln Property Company’s residential COO. “There are numerous rental scams going on out there. We highly encourage all renters to be cautious and do their research before sending any money or personal information.”

You will never receive a request from Lincoln Property Company asking you to make a payment by a method outside of our leasing office, through lincolnapts.com, or through the community’s individual website.

To avoid potential rental scams, follow these tips to make sure you don’t fall victim to a potential rental scam:

1. Always verify listings by contacting the property directly. You can always visit lincolnapts.com to get contact information for a property you may be interested in. For a link to the property’s individual website, locate the listing on lincolnapts.com and click “Visit Website”.
2. Lincoln does not allow subleasing for the majority of our properties, so if you see an apartment ad for subleasing an apartment, it is likely a scam.
3. Lincoln will always require documentation prior to payment being due for any purpose. Do not make any payment without first speaking to property staff and engaging in the leasing process. We will never use direct payment platforms like Venmo or Zelle to accept money.
4. Lincoln will never ask you to wire money to an account for any purpose, including rent, a deposit or other fees. If someone asks you to wire money through a platform such as Western Union or MoneyGram, especially to foreign countries, you are being scammed. Western Union and MoneyGram are very popular for Internet scams because the funds are available at an instant, are untraceable and accessible worldwide.
5. All Lincoln Property Company apartment rentals and teams are located within the continental United States. If you are interacting with someone outside of the country or overseas, you are likely being scammed.
6. If you are interacting via email with a leasing professional, their email address will likely end in @lincolnapts.com. Never email sensitive information such as social security numbers. For rental applications, Lincoln uses a leasing portal and personal information should not be emailed.
7. If you have paid fees outside of the lincolnapts.com portal or your portal from the community’s individual website, you may be a victim of a rental scam. Make sure to report any scam to your local law enforcement agency. You can also file a complaint and learn more about rental scams at consumer.ftc.gov.

For more insights on ways to stay safe when apartment hunting, reach out to the Lincoln team today. We would be happy to arrange a tour or answer any questions you may have.