Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
The real estate market is bubbling these days more than ever, both on the sales and the rent fronts. As prices go up and demand rises, especially in big cities, the basic right for a roof over one’s head becomes much more of a financial burden. This is despite a bit of cooling down during the first couple of waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beside the uncontrollable rise in prices, this market has become somewhat of a safe haven for scammers and crooks. When the rush to buy or rent becomes so dominant, some might take advantage of the atmosphere in order to sell nothing but dreams. That is why it is especially important to expose a new scam which has been exposed in Las Vegas, Nevada, and its suburbs.
The method
According to testimonies published recently on Ripoff Report, the scammers typically prey on people looking to rent properties, especially those with limited funding. Potential renters are promised a comprehensive housing solution, including property rent and management fees, all in one place. A few months’ rent is charged in advance, alongside a deposit that is unusually large and can reach a few tens of thousands of dollars.
After receiving the money, the scammers do not keep their end of the bargain. The properties are nothing like what was originally promised, with “poor and dangerous construction and electrical problems,” according to one reviewer. The scammers refuse to handle tenants’ complaints and sometimes do not even answer the phone at all.
That is not all, though, because tenants are also complaining about their deposit money not being returned to them at the end of the term, as it is supposed to by law, once again leaving them with no one to turn to. One such real estate agency reported to be operating this way is Plasim Home, owned and headed by Avi Zalman.
“Avi Zalman is a crook that steals deposit money, and then lie, lie and lie again,” commented one of the reviewers, who described the home that was rented to him as dangerously neglected: “Internal electric problems, fire hazards and water pipes breaking” were his or her words.
Investors, contractors and suppliers beware
Few reviewers have also claimed that Zalman fails to pay everyone involved in the process, such as contractors he hires, investors who take part in his project, and so on. When the profits fail to arrive, Zalman reportedly disappears, and the hard-working suppliers can only dream about seeing any payment for the work they’ve done.
Despite everything mentioned above, both Avi Zalman and his firm Plasim home continue their business as usual. Their website even lists properties for sale and for rent, at the time of writing. It is not known whether a police investigation has been opened into this matter, but according to yet another reviewer, Zalman has already managed to steal around 300,000 USD of unreturned deposit money.
Crimes in Israel
While these claims are not to be taken light-heartedly, what is more bothersome is the fact that Zalman is also involved in an alleged bribery scandal in his homeland of Israel. Gabby Paran, Former mayor of the city of Ramat Hasharon, one of Tel Aviv’s suburbs was found guilty of taking a bribe from Plasim Development and Building, owned by Zalman. A plea bargain was signed at the end, and Paran was convicted of fraud and breach of trust. Zalman managed to have his name deleted from the case, as a result of the bribery charges being dropped after the plea bargain.
All in all, this is a clear warning sign that business with Avi Zalman and Plasim Homes is not recommended. Furthermore, it is a sign that renters and buyers in the Las Vegas metropolitan area should be careful of who they do business with, because we don’t yet know exactly how many other scammers are employing this method.
Renters shouldn’t be the only ones watching out. Nevada needs to implement better laws to give renters more protection in the entire rental process. It’s really easy to scam renters in Nevada from application fees, cleaning fees, admins fees, to deposits. There needs to be limits on the amount of money being pre-charged. Nevada has no limits set on application fees. No limit set for admin fees or cleaning fees. Some scammers, brokers, and even landlords are using this to their advantage. For example, pre-charging cleaning fees as high as $1000, yet not really using the funds to have a home professionally cleaned. Charging application fees as high as $250 per applicant while accepting multiple applications for the same property, not even really performing credit checks on all applicants, and then pocketing the money. Imagine how much a scammer can profit from posting fraudulent rental ads in the current market. This is why there needs to be limits. To deter scammers. Right now Nevada’s door is wide open for scamming. Can’t really blame the scammers. The state needs to improve it’s consumer protection laws.
I looked to see if Ave Zalman has a real estate license in NV. He is not a licensed Real Estate agent so he should not be doing business as an agent or as a property manager. Roy Zaman is the licensed Broker for Plasim Homes. His license number is B.0144256. If you are a victim of anything associated with Plasim Homes LLC you should file a complaint with the Nevada real estate division at RED.NV.GOV
Any Real Estate company in NV is a matter of Public Record, this business needs to be reported not only to BBB but the real estate division for investigation and or suspension of licenses.