Accommodations, Money Transfers and Security

Although this sort of thing is a rare case possibility that I didn't think ever occurred over here, recent events have prompted me to create this post and warn everyone.

Many of us are looking for accommodations and many are offering them. The confirmations have been mostly word-of-mouth and the money transfers mostly fair. But recently, I have heard of a few people who are using marketing tactics to get people in. For example, telling the person seeking accommodation that I have two more waiting and they should confirm soon to make sure the place stays.

Now for a student who is already here, it's easier for them to come to the apartment, look through it and then decide for themselves whether they are gonna go ahead or not. And even so, a buffer of one to two days is normally allowed. All a person needs is a few hours of notice to make the house ready for the new arrival. And the new arrival can then transfer the money after they have moved in.

But what if, the student is very new and searching for an accommodation from far. Like from a cousin's place in San Francisco or from India itself. Now these students need accommodation and since they have no clue what to expect, just finding someone who says "Yes" itself would be a great thing for them.

Yet this warning is for all the students searching for accommodation. DO NOT TRANSFER MONEY TO ANYBODY AT ALL until you have checked the apartment completely. Check the kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc., anything and everything possible. Take your time in checking the apartments and only when you are fully satisfied, give them a confirmation. And just to make sure that you are with good people, ask around among friends and seniors.

And the ones giving out accommodation, please keep in mind that most students who are coming to you are fellow Indian students. A lot of them are just coming in for the first time here. They don't really know how things are here. Nor do they know how things could be done. Help them understand what they are getting into and give them enough time. There are enough number of people and vacant apartments for everybody. Telling them to confirm within a day or two is asking a lot from them.

As an illustration, I heard of an incident where three girls were charged nearly $700 each for an apartment in Metro Station. They were told to come on to the Lease also and pay the money from July 15th even though none of them were moving in before the 1st of August. They were given less than a day to confirm and transfer the money without even getting to check out the apartment. When they actually landed, none of them liked the apartment and so they moved out to other places after showing her other replacements. But then, not only did the person decline the replacements, she also declined to return the money. Now this kind of a situation shames the whole Indian student community. It destroys these students perception of life and makes it even harder for them to adjust and settle down so far from home.

So new students and old students, please be very careful about your finances. And do not trust any and everybody just like that. Transfer money to someone when you know for sure about the person. Because once you transfer it, there are very very few ways you can get them back.