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19th September 2017
08:19am BST

Let me tell you, from personal traumatic experience, that there is nothing worse than being scammed while house-hunting.
You're left broke af and utterly traumatised.
You'll never trust another landlord or subletter for as long as you live but you'll also develop a new level of street wisdom that'll prevent ever getting f*cked over again.
It's that time of the year again where the whole Dublin rental market is ablaze... and while scams happen year-round, with September meaning throngs of naive students will fall victim once more to cruel scams.
But thanks to An Garda Síochána you can keep your wits about you this year, with these handy tips.
The major red flags to looks out for, according to Gardaí, are the following:
Their advice?
People need to establish that the house exists and that it's available for rent. Also try to obtain the full identity of the landlord/agent and find out whether they are actually authorised to rent said property.
Easier said than done in the desperate race to nab a gaff at one of the busiest times of the year, but better safe than sorry.
An Garda Síochána has the following advice for house-hunters:
The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) rent index provides students with important benchmark information and is an authoritative guide as to the actual rents being charged by landlords adjacent to all universities, ITs and other third level colleges.
Other useful links:
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