Despite recent hits to housing prices associated with increasing interest rates, Toronto remains an incredibly expensive city for renters. In their breakdown of Toronto living costs, U of T Student Life estimates that housing for students costs between $1,000–2,700 a month, depending on factors such as location and housing type.
With the increase in rent and students’ desire to study in person as the pandemic subdues, rental scams have skyrocketed.
Student scam experience
In an email to The Varsity, a student — who requested anonymity because they fear repercussions from their scammer — described how a landlord tried to scam them over the summer.
The student, who was on exchange from University of Geneva, Switzerland, looked into a place to stay during their exchange. Just before coming to Toronto to start their studies, they saw an ad on a U of T off-campus housing website. According to the student, the website originally listed four rooms available, so they applied. The landlord responded and explained that the four rooms were not available separately. The landlord informed them that he had a fifth room in the house that he hadn’t yet listed. The room was priced at $600.
The student explained they had a contact in Toronto who went to visit this landlord. The student also had a few conversations with the landlord over the phone and everything seemed okay. The landlord sent the student a lease, and the student signed it.
After signing the lease, the student sent…
