‘Landlord Vanished With My Deposit’: Bengaluru Man Raises Alarm Over Rising Rental Scams; Redditors Say ‘Don’t Leave The House’

People living in Bengaluru as tenants are concerned about alleged scams by landlords involving security deposits. One such individual took to Reddit to share their ordeal with others on the social media platform. According to the post, the person who recently vacated a flat in the city’s BTM layout locality revealed that their landlord stopped responding to their calls and messages regarding the return of the security deposit.

The tenant followed all proper procedures, including providing notice beforehand and handing over the flat in accordance with the rental agreement. “As per the rental agreement, the owner was supposed to return my security deposit. However, after vacating the flat, Mr. Chaitanya stopped responding to my phone calls and messages.

He has disappeared without returning the money or providing any explanation,” said the user in their post.

The Tenant Shared A WhatsApp Conversation With The Landlord

The person also shared a screenshot of their one-sided WhatsApp conversation with their landlord. The image showed that the tenant called the landlord multiple times and even texted that they were going to report the incident to the police, but to no avail. Dejected, the person also messaged the landlord, “Why the hell do you scam people, bro. There is no way you are doing this on purpose. This is why we shouldn’t have given you the keys.”

The Tenant Revealed That Many People Have Faced A Similar “Scam”

In the post, the tenant further mentioned that this wasn’t an isolated incident. This kind of “scam” has happened with several others as well. “Many tenants in Bengaluru are facing similar issues where owners exploit tenants by refusing to return their deposits after vacating. Such actions are unethical and amount to cheating and breach of trust,” the user wrote.

The person also urged the police to take necessary action and mentioned that they would cooperate. They added, “I kindly request the Bengaluru Police and Karnataka Police to take immediate action against Mr. Chaitanya and help me recover my rightful deposit. I am also willing to provide proof of tenancy, rental agreement, chat/call records, and bank details of the deposit transaction if required.”

Bangalore Scam #karnatakapolice
byu/HeyJosan inbangalorerentals

Other People From Bengaluru Share That They Also Faced Similar Situations
The post immediately sparked a wave of reaction from social media users, with many even sharing their personal experience. One user said, “Same is happening with me, just moved out of HSR Layout Sector 2, Rich Scums of BLR. Owner has 5cr+ of cars, can’t fucking return 20k.”

“I have been scammed 50k, never give keys back without a deposit,” mentioned another.

A different user shared, “Same happened with me in btm layout phase 2. In my case difference was around 6k. So I didn’t bother much. The landlord’s name was Senthil. He used to pretend he was very ethical, but when it came to returning money, he started giving excuses that the place was dirty, bla bla bla.”

“We need some kind of app to rate rental properties, so these scammer landlords don’t f–k with people,” someone else commented.

Meanwhile, a section also asked the user to contact the local authorities and lodge a formal complaint with the police to recover their security deposit.