Rent uncle: a ******** playground

Zero star! I'm writing this to warn people to stay away from Rent uncle. They allow ******** to advertise on their website. I was interested in a apartment listed on this site. The advertised price was way below the market value, I suspected it's for sharing. When I contacted the listing agent by phone he told me to send him a whatsapp text. I did as soon as I got off the phone. After a few hours he answered my text and said I should send application docs. I requested to view place first and he said I should apply first, if I'm successful then I will view the flat. I asked what if I don't like the place and told that by law I should view before the application process starts and he ghosted me. That very day I sent rent uncle message via their site ( the only contact available) and asked what is the process of reporting a suspected *****. It's been more than 3 weeks now and I haven't received any communication from rent uncle.

Yesterday a colleague of mine saw a listing that he liked also below market value. Called the advertising agent and the asked why is the flat this cheap and the guy said he owns the apartment there's no agent. The "owner" then sent him the application from on whatsapp and he sent him his 3 months bank statement, pay slips and ID Document. Then he shares with me about this lovely place he found as is viewing it after work. At this point I didn't even think it could be a ****.

Later that day, my colleague tried to finalise the viewing and was told that he should pay because the agency found a person who will only pay on Friday but if he pays that day he gets the place because they work on the first come, first serve basis. He said fine, he will pay before Friday, only if he gets to view the place. He was told that the agency won't give the keys because they already have found someone but will give it if he has paid. It's at this point that my colleague realized that this could be a ****. He then calls the agency the "owner" claimed to be responsible for the place. Guess what? They agency doesn't even operate in the area! They further told him that they receive a lot of calls similar to his from people who found listings on rent uncle.

To be safe, stay away from rent uncle. It seems like it's a playground for ********.