Hello,
I’m getting worried now, I have paid a first months rent and deposit totalling £1450, the landlady lives abroad and said she had sent the keys via post, they should have arrived on the 1st December, I’ve not received them, and I now am not getting any replies from her.
I can’t access the advert for the house, how do I get my money back as it’s with openrent,
Kind regards
Sophie
Have you viewed the property?
Where did you send payment, via openrent or direct to landlord?
How long has it been since you have not heard back from landlord?
Hi,
I’ve not viewed the property as I needed to pay open rent the money as a safety net, she lives abroad and was sending the keys via post so I can view it.
I’ve not heard from her since 29th November,
As long as you’ve paid openrent you’ll be ok for getting money back should you not hear back.
contact openrent support directly advising of the situation.
Thank you!! I’m so worried
do not do this again paying money before you see a place . You are taking a big risk
I’ve never used OR before, I had to pay in order to get the keys to view it.
Everything seemed legitimate and could be, I’m just panicking now.
open rent is sound. But some scumbag "landlords "say they live abroard and want money sent direct to them before a viewing. As long as you paid openrent and not to another party you should be o k
did you pay thru openrent?
Sophie36
This sounds so wrong and I fear the worst for you. The Safety Net is Open Rent. Many landlords live abroad but the keys usually remain in the UK with either an agent, family/friends or in a key safe.
If a physical viewing isn’t possible because either the landlord or prospective tenant are abroad then the next best thing is to have a live digital viewing which requires an agent or another person to facilitate this.
Did the landlord give you instructions to return the keys if you decided not to take the property and money for postage if they wanted keys returned???
The security deposit and one months rent in advance should only be paid after agreeing to take on the tenancy, ideally after viewing and shortly before signing the tenancy agreement.
Finally, was the rent significantly less than other properties in the area. If so this would be another red flag.
If you have as you said paid everything through Open Rent you should get your money back.
Good luck
Hi Chris,
Thank you for your message, I’m so worried now…
The property was £850 all in and accepted pets, seemed to good to be true, but I thought it’s through openrent so it’ must be ok…
She gave instructions to send the keys back to her should I decide against the property.
I feel desperate as my dad is disabled and struggling, the house we rent currently through and agent has had no end of issues that haven’t been rectified and has ended up costing me out of pocket to try and get things fixed.
All I want is a 2/3 bed house, in Wiltshire, that accepts pets… that I can afford. 
I have called open rent last night and they are escalating the situation, so hopefully il hear back from them in the next couple of days 
I paid through open rent, they were in a different country though too…
The website address on that is openrent.me. (As opposed to .co.uk) so its a fake payment site disguised as Openrent. I can see the domain was only registered on the 12th Nov. Genuine payments are made direct to openrent which is a UK bank account not a foreign one. The grammar they have used is terrible and almost meaningless in parts.
They must have sent you the payment link as opposed to coming from Openrent themselves. (Maybe from an openrent.me email address?)
Did you speak with them? how thorough did they check you out? Think about it, a genuine LL would want to make sure the tenant checks out before handing over keys.
Sadly you’ve been conned.
Sophie . A foreign country, not viewed, pay in advance, the domain only registered on 12 th nov Do not let desperation make you believe all you are told The internet is full of scammers E G>. I get no end of messages to log in to a parcel I am to recieve . But I never order thru the post . I go out and buy it. Be more careful , do not believe
Scam, Scam.
So sorry you have likely lost your money.
Report to Action Fraud.
Report to your bank. You may be entitled to a Push payment refund.
Thank you everyone…
I’ve escalated it with open rent etc so we shall now see what happens, thank for your advice and everything!
How did Openrent deal with this, what was the outcome?
Oh im so sorry to hear of your experience. Im also looking for a property and even after reading the first sentence of your post I had a fear you was being scammed. I would always advise never pay a deposit or any money until you have viewed the property. Always check the website links before you pay money.
I have recently viewed a property from open rent and was shown around by tenants. First red flag. Then after i left i was being bombarded with messages to pay a holding deposit into a separate bank account, not through open rent. After many opinions and careful consideration i turned down the property with the fear of it being a scam. It may have been legit, but i was not willing to part with my money JUST INCASE. Sometimes these landlords, not all but some, will try and take advantage of those who are desperately in need.
Keep trying, stay alert and trust your gut. I hope you get your money back!
you did the right thing . To pay not thru openrent is dodgey
