Accommodation in Malaysia: scams you should look out for

The experience I have is of Chinese nationals renting apartments for single use and then housing 3 or 4  individuals on a rent sharing mode.
They treat the apartment like a hostel and the ensuing mess is a nightmare for the owner to deal with.
I am therefore keen to sell.

Please see my previous post on this topic. Hope it helps someone.

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 89#4296070

This topic is huge, i'll organize some points about renting and come back.

First you need to check the agent id and his company or else contact the owner directly .in malaysia there is a syndicate for scamming they target mainly foreigners .dont give any deposit or rental untill you find that agent is not fake

A Few years back there was a scam in Kota Kinabalu where people bought a sort off time share in a resort. The agent promised, though that the investor would receive a certain amount of income from rental of the unit until they decided to retire and move in permanently. The agent would be responsible for upkeep and repairs, regular cleaning, etc. Things went alright for about a year and then the agent said that he was having issues renting the units. So the income went down, eventually to zero. Eventually one of the investors came down to inspect their place. Initially the agent showed them a DIFFERENT place, acting confused about which units were purchased. Said he'd get the keys, etc.  the next day. But suddenly he disappeared.

The victim went to the unit he had purchased and found that, although there was evidence of a quick effort at making repairs the place was a mess. Clearly no maintenance had been done for months, if not a year. The place looked as if if had been rented to a large group(s) of people almost like a dorm. Toilets and sinks were clogged, furniture torn, drapes hanging loose, trash everywhere.

Victims (and there were a half a dozen) sued. The won a judgement, if they can locate the agent. Owner of the resort claimed no responsibility, that they had made several complaints to the agent about the tenants, and had even sent letters to the owners (never received - agent provided "incorrect addresses").

1) There are postings on FB groups regarding brazen scammers renting an AirBnB unit, pretending to be an agent or the owner and then renting it out to expats (stealing the deposit / first months rent)... ITS BEST TO AVOID BUILDINGS WHERE AIRBNB IS ALLOWED AS THOSE BUILDINGS AND THEIR TENANTS WILL BE TROUBLE EITHER WAY.
2) Expats and foreign students who need to leave in a hurry will also pull stuff like re-rent out their places to greenhorn expats/students etc to get their deposits back or they turn over the unit / keys to someone / fake agent / friend etc who then turns around and rents it out...
3) Then you have the roommate scam and various variations - I have a room listed on a few sites and I have already been contacted by a scammer who, if they follow the scam through according to Internet postings, they will ask you to send them money (that's right!) so they can ship their things to your place or something like that - then you have to fight with Paypal to get reimbursed and Paypal is left holding the bag IF they agree to reimburse you...
4) Subleasing e.g. you rent a unit to someone thinking they will live in it and they rent it out by the room or by the bed for profit. If you rent a room in such a unit, you will also have headaches dealing with whatever housemates get housed with you as you have no control over this. Its best to rent a room from a person you know is the leaseholder (has a signed / notarized lease) AND who is living there

expatinmalaysia wrote:

. ITS BEST TO AVOID BUILDINGS WHERE AIRBNB IS ALLOWED

Don't you mean “where AirBNB is NOT Allowed”?

cinnamonape wrote:

expatinmalaysia wrote:

. ITS BEST TO AVOID BUILDINGS WHERE AIRBNB IS ALLOWED

Don't you mean “where AirBNB is NOT Allowed”?

I said its best to avoid buildings where AirBnB is allowed... Why would you want to live in a building where AirBnB is allowed? Lots of people coming and going - maybe engaging in questionable activities or making noise... Buildings w/ AirBnB tend to be for investor owners, not home owners. So maintenance is often not so good with such buildings... I can think of at least one or two fairly new complexes in KL w/ alot of AirBnB now and the developer did not leave enough $ for the maintenance/sunk etc funds - so maintenance is already going downhill....

I don't know about scams in renting here but there was an article in the star paper last week referring to a proposal to ensure that all foreigners must register with the jmb of a condo before taking out a lease. This subsequent registration paper must then be kept and presented before any condo can be rented in the future. At this stage it is only a proposal however it looks like the writing is on the wall. Foreigners are not wanted here anymore.

bahter wrote:

I don't know about scams in renting here but there was an article in the star paper last week referring to a proposal to ensure that all foreigners must register with the jmb of a condo before taking out a lease. This subsequent registration paper must then be kept and presented before any condo can be rented in the future. At this stage it is only a proposal however it looks like the writing is on the wall. Foreigners are not wanted here anymore.

GOOGLE: "Proposal for foreign tenants to get JMB approval before renting needs further study, say reps" https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/ … 8886eFM.99

Anyone, expat or local, who has had the "pleasure" of having 20 guest workers crammed in a unit for neighbours might welcome some variation of this.

The problem I foresee is the corruption it would breed among building managers/management committees - along with 1) discrimination against foreigners from certain countries who don't all behave badly; or 2) discrimination against or favouritism towards certain landlords by building managers/management committee; or 3) certain landlords who want to keep foreigner/expat tenant deposits or get even with tenants who complain alot by getting them blacklisted; and 4) just outright pettiness - think New York City co-op boards....

It definitely needs alot more study... I heard they are also studying a wider ban on AirBnB - frankly, its a commercial activity and I would think it clearly violates residential zoning laws BUT individual condo buildings at least can outright ban it if they choose too with no need for gov't involvement....

My mistake. I was thinking that the renter might be on Air BnB or subletting and thus subject to some sort of harassment from the building management. While it's possible that Air BnB tenants can be misbehaved so can long-term tenants who might have pets, barbecue on their patios, eat stinky foods, have noisy children, or (as in my unit) be semester-long college students who let loose on weekends. Firecrackers that are let off at festival periods in the stairwells and out the windows. The "China dolls" that one guy brings in are quite well-behaved, generally. But there are Mat Rempit that have loud motorcycles that come back at all hours.

Then there are the three mosques that all seem to have upgraded their sound systems in competition with one another.

None of these are "scams" per se. Simply things that take some getting used to.

Anyone have any issue in getting their security deposits or MM2H Personal Bond bank when they leave?