Madison Real Estate Insights and nationwide as well as helping you understand hyper-local Madison real estate trends, Refine your real estate search in Madison, Use our interactive Madison home price map to view real estate activity across Madison ZIP codes and in other cities nearby Madison. See local real estate trends, and compare your home to recently sold homes in Madison and to similar homes for sale in Madison, . View our Madison real estate guide to get in touch with Madison real estate agents, real estate brokers and other real estate sellers and buyers. Madison mortgages from multiple lenders and mortgage brokers to finance your home purchase.Find and compare Madison Apartments for rent.Taking tips, chasing leads, and solving problems You find a house for rent in an ad on Craigslist and Zillow, fill out an application form, and send money for a deposit. Then you find out the house isn't actually for rent. It's a housing scam.

The Grafton Police Department sent a warning to consumers Tuesday about such rental scams that use Craigslist and Zillow to post fraudulent housing listings. Police said criminals pose as the owners of the properties. They take real estate listings of homes from legitimate websites and use them to place ads on Craigslist and Zillow, offering houses for rent. When a prospective renter contacts the criminal to inquire about the property, the criminal will email a renters' application and request the prospective renter fill it out. "This application requires the prospective renter to provide personal information to include Social Security number, date of birth, driver's license number and financial history. In some cases, the criminal will require a down payment to hold the property," the warning said. An agent or landlord shouldn't ask for personal information, such as a date of birth, Social Security number or a phone verification code before you see a property, police said.

The warning noted that the real owners of the property are also victimized in the process. "The true owners of the properties are not aware that their home has been listed for rent on the unauthorized websites until the prospective renter makes personal contact with them requesting an inspection or a house key," the warning read. Zillow spokeswoman Lauren Braun told the Public Investigator that the company tries to combat fraud by "policing" activity on the side. "If a rental listing is found to be fraudulent, it is immediately removed from Zillow," she said in an email Tuesday. "Additionally, any user who posts a fraudulent listing is blocked from posting additional listings, if possible." Grafton police said consumers should watch for these warning signs and red flags: There are more tips on how to spot a rental scam on the Federal Trade Commission's website. Zillow also has some examples of how a rental property scam email exchanges. If you see a fake real estate listing on Craigslist or Zillow, report it to those sites and to authorities:

How to report a fraudulent rental property listing on Zillow: Go to the listing you think is fraud. Click "Report listing," then "listing seems to be fraudulent or illegal." How to report a fraudulent rental property listing on Craigslist: Click on "Avoiding scams & fraud." Follow the listing of websites to report scams in the United States and Canada. How to report the fraudulent rental listing to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection: Online, by email to DATCPhotline@wisconsin.gov or by phone (800) 422-7128.Class B Rv Rental Indianapolis Report the fraudulent rental listing to the Federal Trade Commission: Call (877) FTC-HELP -- that's (877) 382-4357. Clumber Spaniel Breeders MnOr use the online complaint form.Rv Rentals Near Mechanicsburg Pa

Also, report the fake listing to your local police department. For the latest scam alerts, consumer news, viral stories and occasional freebies, follow the Public Investigator on Twitter @GitteLaasbyMJS or like her Facebook page. Morgan County High School Morgan County Primary School Morgan County Middle School High Shoals Elementary School Lake Oconee Charter School Colham Ferry Elementary School Around Morgan County Elementary School Morgan County Elementary Schoolto Coldwell Banker Lake Oconee Realty/Lake Countryand Coldwell Banker Commercial Lake Country Our local REALTORS® are ready to help you buy or sell your home anywhere from Madison, Eatonton, Greensboro, Lake Oconee, Lake Sinclair, or anywhere in Georgia! ForeclosuresFor sale / Lease Welcome to Coldwell BankerLake Oconee Realty/Lake Country. Leading the way in real estate in North Georgia's Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair. We list and sell commercial and residential real estate, including lakefront homes, off-water property, historic downtown property, farms and acreage.

If you’re interested in foreclosures, bank-owned properties, and long-term rentals, we can help with that too. You can easily find one of our five convenient offices, and one of our many agents who can help you with real estate in these counties – Morgan, Putnam, Greene, Baldwin, Hancock and Oconee. The Luxury Home Division of Coldwell Banker Lake Oconee Realty/Lake Country. Whether you are looking to invest in commercial real estate, relocate your business, or evaluate your current investments, we are here to assist you along the way. Discover how the dream of homeownership can be a reality. Selling your home is a big move. See how we can simplify this process. Relocating isn’t easy . . . That’s why we are here for you every step of the way. Join the most successful and innovate real estate company in Georgia’s Lake Country.With the real estate listing data provided by ListHub set to disappear from Zillow (Z) and Trulia in just over two weeks, the Zillow Group is continuing in its recruitment of multiple listing services to provide direct feeds to the sites to mitigate the loss of the ListHub data.

Last week, the Zillow Group broke new ground when it announced that Realogy (RLGY), Keller Williams and 18 MLSs, including the California Regional MLS, signed agreements with the Zillow Group to provide listing data to both Zillow and Trulia. On Monday, the Zillow Group announced that it signed direct listing agreements with 24 more MLSs. Under the agreements, the 24 MLSs will establish direct feeds that will push listing data to both sites. "With every partner that decides to send Zillow and Trulia a direct feed, it improves the overall accuracy as well as home shoppers' experience, resulting in more opportunities for agents to engage with home buyers and sellers," said Greg Schwartz, Zillow Group chief revenue officer. "The security of a direct feed is the best way to ensure millions of home shoppers on Zillow and Trulia see the highest quality data,” Schwartz continued. “I'm thrilled to welcome our new partners, who see the value Zillow and Trulia bring to the table and are connecting their members with a growing population of home shoppers and sellers."