I’ve read some of the past posts but I’m still not sure how to deal with a situation I’m in. My daughter has accepted a summer internship in a location 2,000 miles away. We found someone (a traveling nurse) offering a sublet of her apartment. Everything seems good, and there haven’t been any red flags like demanding Zelle payments immediately or anything weird. But the sublease asks for the first month’s rent and deposit 7 days before move-in, which seems reasonable but also goes against the Golden Rule of not paying anything before setting foot in the apartment. But what are we to do? It is too far away to just swing by for a visit. She has sent us a video walkthrough that feels legit—it’s a clearly lived-in apartment, not like AI or a video of someone’s Airbnb. We plan to confirm with the landlord organization that she’s a renter there and has permission to sublease. What else can we do? Is this a bad idea?
We spoke to the management company (which manages that building and many others), but it’s basically impossible to lease a furnished apartment for only 3 months from a leasing company; it needs to be a sublet from a longer-term renter.
UPDATE: I really want to thank everyone for their replies. I called the landlord company, and they confirmed that the person who claims to live there does not, and the apartment “she” named does not exist. So, lesson learned. We have found a sublet where the person will be physically present in the city when we get there, and we will pay after we see the apartment.