Wishing you a day filled with love and happiness!

As we discussed, Craigslist is one of our most effective marketing tools. But it's free and open to all, which means that scammers occasionally pop up on the service. 

For example, meet Bob. Bob has a problem: he lives in Cleveland and he's got to relocate to the Bay Area for work — by next week. So he takes an apartment from XYZ Property Management sight unseen and sends a check for $3000 in rent and fees. But XYZ only asked for $2000, so they refund Bob the extra money. It's an understandable mistake, of course; in the hassle of moving Bob wrote the wrong amount on the check. He's grateful for XYZ's honesty until his check bounces and he disappears.

This won't happen to Castle because our screening process is comprehensive and consistent, and all financial transactions are handled through our main office. But there's a lesson for all property managers here: keep your head in the game, don't cut corners, use your instinct, and develop rigorous processes to protect your business and your communities.

Stay tuned for more about how we avoid Craigslist scammers.