Why Craigslist is still NYC’s most dangerous (sub)rental marketplace

Recently, I was helping a neighbor, trying to assist her in finding a four-month sublet this fall while she renovates her co-op. To do this, I combed through many of the known (and possibly) unknown listing outlets, e.g., Sublet.com, LeaseBreak, BlueGround, Rumors.com, as well as Airbnb and VRBO.

Oh, and Craiglist.

Finding temporary housing in New York isn't hard, necessarily, but specific situations can make the search more or less challenging—particularly if you’re not looking to become someone’s roommate.

Her case was one of the more difficult.

She’s got:
A teenage son
Two cats
An adult significant other who’s in the picture (but not necessarily the lease)

And she’s looking for a pet-friendly, two-bedroom, one-bath apartment without existing roommates for four months.

Plus, she had an additional requirement? Proximity.

Her son (understandably) needs to be close to his school, and she needs to be close to work—which is also in the neighborhood. Plus, she needs to be close by to keep tabs on renovation progress on her existing apartment.

Spoiler alert: This story is not going to be about the search or whether we landed her a spot. It’s about the journey and what we encountered.

Among the listings, I found a few listings on Craiglist well below the price points of the other platforms. They looked clean, had photos, and looked legit. So we inquired.

The name listed was that of a broker. I reached out via Craigslist’s masked email relay. The broker responded.

First red flag: the grammar was… off. Not what you’d expect from a native speaker, but also not what you’d expect from a bot and an outright scam: just off.

Here’s an example from a response: “Could you please provide me with your direct contact email address for more information about the apartment? And guide you through our application process. I will be looking forward to read back from you again.”

Maybe “I will be looking forward to read back from you again” is just an auto-correct error?

While that gave me pause, everything else was in order. But, to be safe, I asked for his real estate license number.

He replied fast. Gave the credentials. I checked the NYS Department of State directory — and his name and license number matched up.

Encouraged, I asked for more photos. He sent them, along with a video walkthrough of one of the unit’s interiors. Everything looked better than the listing, including additional vantage points that weren’t included in the stills from the listing.

“Okay, this is promising,” I thought.

But then…

Another red flag.

To be continued.