SmartRenter is on a crusade to shield students from being taken advantage of by empowering them to make informed decisions.

Off-campus student housing markets have limited stock, leading to high prices, tight decision timelines, and aggressive tactics used by landlords. It’s common for students to be asked to skip vital precautionary steps to rush into rental agreements without properly vetting the property. Surveys indicate that most students have encountered an online rental scam when looking for off-campus housing near their university. 15% of students have contacted a scammer without initially realizing it and of those 15%, more than 98% of those students said they paid and lost money to fraud.

International students, unfamiliar with common rental procedures, are often asked for wire transfers for deposits and to sign leases for sight-unseen rentals.

SmartRenter for Students

SmartRenter Student Shield program offers off-campus students an added layer of assurance that the property they want to rent is legitimately owned by the landlord representing it, and that the landlord and property are likely to be financially and physically safe. As a population that is so frequently targeted by these scams, it is SmartRenter's goal to work on their behalf.

View SmartRenter Reports to Help Student Renters.