Rental Scams in Austin

Where to Report Rental Fraud in Austin

If you have lost money to a fake Austin listing or a bogus landlord, file a complaint with the Texas Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, which handles deceptive business practices including real-estate and rental scams. Complaints are submitted through the AG's online Consumer Complaint Portal at texasattorneygeneral.gov. Note that the division does not resolve individual disputes or recover your money directly; it uses complaints to identify patterns and bring enforcement actions, so your report still matters even when the immediate payoff is not a refund.

For a criminal report tied to a specific Austin property or a wire transfer you have already sent, contact the Austin Police Department. Non-emergency reports can be filed online through the iReportAustin portal or by phone at 3-1-1 (512-974-2000 from outside the city), both available 24 hours a day; online filing generates a case number automatically, which you will need for bank disputes and insurance. Get that case number in writing, because payment apps and banks frequently require a police report before they will open a fraud claim.

Because most rental scams are executed by email, text, and money-transfer apps, also report to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov and to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov. If you paid by wire, Zelle, Venmo, or gift card, notify that provider and your bank immediately; the speed of your report is often what determines whether any funds can be frozen.

How to Verify an Austin Landlord and Property

Every parcel in Austin sits inside Travis County, so you can confirm who actually owns a property through the Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD). Its free public property search at traviscad.org lets you look up any address by owner name, street address, or account number, with no login required. If the name a supposed landlord gives you does not match the owner of record, or if the 'owner' is an LLC while the person messaging you claims to be an individual private owner, treat that as a serious red flag and ask for documentation connecting them to the titled owner.

Cross-check the listing itself. Reverse-image search the photos, since scammers routinely copy pictures from legitimate for-sale or previously rented listings. Confirm the unit is not simultaneously posted for sale or advertised by a licensed property manager, and verify any agent's license through the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) license lookup at trec.texas.gov. A refusal to let you view the interior in person, or pressure to send a deposit to 'hold' a place sight-unseen, is the single most common thread in Austin rental fraud.

Texas Deposit and Application-Fee Rules Worth Knowing

Texas does not cap the dollar amount of a security deposit, but it does regulate its return. Under the Texas Property Code (Sections 92.101 through 92.109), a landlord must refund your deposit within 30 days after you surrender the premises and provide a written forwarding address. A landlord who withholds a deposit in bad faith can be liable for $100 in statutory damages plus three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus attorney's fees, so keep written proof of your move-out date and the address you provided.

Application fees and deposits are governed separately by Sections 92.351 and 92.3515. An application fee is a nonrefundable charge meant to cover the cost of screening you, while an application deposit is refundable if you are rejected. Critically, if a landlord rejects your application but never gave you their written tenant-selection criteria, they are required to return both the application fee and any application deposit. A supposed 'landlord' who demands an unusually large upfront application deposit, refuses to state written screening criteria, or asks for the deposit before you have seen the unit is behaving outside these norms and should be verified before you pay anything.