Beware of “hangers”! How real estate agents “stick” to ongoing transactions in order to extort money from Romanians
A man from Argeș county was speechless when, on the day when the sale of a Belgian neighbor's house was to be completed, an individual appeared at the gate whom no one had invited. He introduced himself as a real estate agent, walked into the yard, attended the viewing as if he had every right, and pulled contracts out of the car. Neither the seller nor the buyer had any contract with him. It didn't matter. The individual had hoped that in the rush of documents and negotiations, someone would sign something without reading.
PHOTO: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
The story, shared on Reddit, revealed a whole repertoire of tactics by which some real estate agents in Romania try to extort money from transactions to which they do not contribute in any way. The testimonies are numerous, and the scheme is repeated with a regularity that suggests that it is not a matter of exceptions, but of a system practice.
The agent who was not called by anyone
The case from Argeș illustrates one of the most daring methods: the “dangling” agent, as the forumists call him, who sticks to an ongoing transaction without being mandated by any of the parties. The mechanism is simple: he sees an ad for sale, identifies a potential buyer or pretends to have one, and shows up hoping that the natural chaos of a real estate transaction will give him an opportunity to sneak in a brokerage contract.
“Someone called me last week that today he is coming to see the house again and to communicate the final decision. In the meantime, another potential buyer is calling me. I didn't smell that he was a bit too interested if it is booked and I say: “Sir, someone is coming on Sunday at 10 to see the house. I will call you later and tell you if it is still worth coming.” I wake up today at 9:30 with one at the door. I came out thinking they were the buyers. He tells me he's Agent X and he's waiting for his clients to arrive. I put the man in the yard; I had started to start the fire in the central. The buyer also came, determined to look at the documents. I called the owner with the camera etc. The formalities. We hung around there for about an hour; the agent was also talking, making a remark about the furniture, the light, etc. And documents, that he has contracts in the car, that he knows a notary, that I don't know what. Well, the lady “slaps” with the owner, and from my broken French I understand that she tells him that she didn't know she was working with an agent. That one tells him that he's not an agent, he's the neighbor (he was referring to me). Even then I didn't completely fail the file, but the woman says to me at one point: “You know, I've already spoken to the notary, I'd rather we do this and that, because I didn't know that Mr. Y had an agent, I thought you were in charge.” Well, boy, that one had me hanging there. I kicked him out with the beauty; he pretended that it was a misunderstanding, that one thing, another. Now I don't even know what would have turned out, I'm really curious. That neither the seller nor the buyer had a contract with him. Is it common practice? Was he thinking that maybe they don't read the contract and sign a commission for him too?”, said the citizen.
Agent disguised as customer
Another, perhaps even more insidious, scheme targets landlords trying to sell or rent without intermediaries. A woman who posted an ad on OLX to rent an apartment says she was called by dozens of agents. So far, predictable. The surprise came when, two days later, he got a call from someone who seemed like an interested, enthusiastic tenant with concrete questions, ready to view. When he googled the number, he found it belonged to a real estate agent.
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“How do you call pretending to be a potential beneficiary? It's a scam. He was putting me on the road for nothing, probably just to explain to me in the apartment that he's an agent.” the woman wrote.
The goal was, most likely, to get face-to-face with the owner and get her to sign an exclusive representation contract, or to catch the moment when an actual tenant appeared and insert herself into the transaction.
Stolen ad and commission out of nowhere
A widely documented practice in online chats is to take private landlords' ads and repost them under the agent's phone number without any consent. The owner places the ad, the agent copies it, removes his number and replaces it with his own.
Prospective buyers call the agent, who arranges viewings as if they were representing the seller even though they have no mandate. If the transaction goes ahead, the agent tries to position himself as a middleman and demand commission from the buyer, the seller, or both.
“They're parasites (…). They're putting you through their paces”another user sums up.
Why it works
These schemes thrive for several converging reasons. First of all, Romanian legislation in the field of real estate brokerage is permissive and poorly enforced. There is no strict regulation of the profession, no functioning national register of licensed agents and no effective sanctions for abusive practices. Anyone can call themselves a “real estate agent” and act as one.
Second, real estate transactions are, by their very nature, times of stress and confusion for the people involved. The acts are many, the sums are high, the emotions are high. A man with a sure word, a folder of contracts and an ironed suit may, at first glance, seem like a professional worth trusting.
Third, many of the deceived do not immediately realize what has happened or do not have the resources and time to challenge the situation. The commission is paid, the transaction is closed, life goes on.
How do you protect yourself?
Real estate law specialists recommend some basic rules. Don't sign anything at a viewing, no matter how innocuous the document seems, read any paper carefully before signing, including “simple” viewing confirmations. Always check that the presenting agent has a signed contract with the seller or you as the buyer before allowing them to participate in discussions.
If you are selling without an agent, clearly state this in your ad and repeat it to anyone who contacts you. If someone you didn't invite shows up at the viewing and presents himself as an agent, he has the right to be refused. Your property, your rules.
And if a “prospective buyer” turns out to be, in fact, an agent who wanted to see your apartment to propose a brokerage contract, you have every right to be outraged—and to tell others what happened. This is exactly what the man from Argeș did, and the testimonies that followed show that he is not alone.
