Thanks for Visiting this Blog from Romania

For the past day or so, there have been 18 hits from Romania to this blog, which almost nobody reads. Whoever you are and wherever you are (in Romania or somewhere else), you have been uncovered not only by me but by others too.

Meeting with Lawyer and "+40" International Calls

Yes, I saw a layer yesterday. Saying that the content of the rent-increase notice was legally non-sense and the company is “cutting your throat,” he counselled me against a legal action against the company. He also said if we were to go deeper, we would have to find the real owner of the house as the company is acting only as the owner’s manager getting some percentages from the rent income. It was out of consideration for the time and cost to be involved in such an action. Accepting his opinion and with depleted energy, I notified the company to prepare a new tenancy contract for me to sign. My feeling was one of sheer exhaustion. When I mentioned that anything like this would not happen in my own country, the lawyer started talking about cultural differences. In this culture, there are crooks who try to cheat you and rip you off. There are those people who are unreasonable beyond my comprehension. Exhausted.

Today I started receiving many international calls and an SMS, all of which I am ignoring. The number starts with +40, which is of Romania. It is not the country code of Spain. The caller claims that it is the real estate company that is now holding the keys and the contract document in its custody. Fuck off.

APARTMENT RENTAL FRAUDSTER, BE CAREFUL

A few days ago, I found an online post for an apartment for rent, which seemed too good to be true. The renter claimed that she had bought the property four years ago, but had to move to her own country, Spain, thus now looking for someone who would rent the place.

From the photos attached to the post, the property was superbly furnished. Anyway I sent a message to the listed e-mail address.

She asked me to send money amounting to S$3,600 (two-month rent of S$2,400, and a one-month deposit) to start this rent transaction. For me to send this amount, she requested a Western Union money transfer to a real estate company, which, upon confirming the transfer from me, was to obtain the keys and the contract document from her. The company subsequently would send them to me and an authorized agent would accompany me to the property so that I could finally decide whether to rent it.

After she specified the way for finalizing the contract as above, I asked her to provide the exact address of the apartment.

I checked the address with Google Earth and found it was a green field, or a cemetery, next to a mosque. In the meantime, I searched for posts for property rental scams. I saw a post that says something like, “Owner overseas, request for Western Union money transfer.”

Luckily, I didn’t send any money. I found this warning in time. The name of this 51-year-old Spanish civil-engineering project manager, as the person claims, is Gonzalez Castanon Elena. Be careful, guys.

For the rent renewal matter, I have decided to engage a lawyer.