Payment Dispute Scam - Apartments.com

[Dave Bal]

Notice to all Landlords using or considering Apartments.com (previously Cozy):

I received notice today that one of my previous tenants (who moved out 6 months ago with an unpaid balance of over $8K) disputed a payment received from Apartments.com from over a year ago.  Apartments.com is requiring the funds be returned despite the scam and the already excessive balance due on the account from the previous tenant.  I was not aware this could happen, especially a year later and with a prior tenant.  Apartments.com shared the only potential recourse would be to reach out to the previous tenant and ask that they withdrawal their dispute or take them to court.  

I am posting as a warning to all landlords to avoid the site.  This may be a new scam on the rise and all should be cautious with third party management sites/apps.

[Jonathan R McLaughlin]

I would definitely contact the issuing bank. Start as high up as possible, probably the branch head at least. Reversing a charge from a year ago doesn’t pass the smell test and they may want to examine the transaction from a teller fraud point of view as well as their own procedures. What kind of evidence was produced to justify this? The process of reversal can be shockingly casual and at a very entry level employee level in person.