Exposing how bogus estate agents are conning home seekers

By Tendai Makaripe – The desire to own a property bearing his name is a thing that lingered in Tonderai Muza’s mind for a long time.

Growing up in Glen Norah C, a sprawling suburb in southwest Harare, where his family of four rented two rooms, life was not rosy.

Having to sleep on the kitchen floor was something that made Muza not look forward to bedtime as it was a constant reminder of how impoverished his family was.

The fact that his father suffered a stroke that incapacitated him further compounded the family’s already dire situation.

While the Muzas were a family bound by the chains of poverty, Tonderai was extremely intelligent, a weapon that he used to unshackle his clan from the claws of poverty.

However, a life of plenty without a decent home means nothing, which is why Muza approached an estate agent last year in the hope of getting a house to buy.

Having graduated as a PhD holder in 2020, Muza went about his search for a house as any analytical academic would do.

“I settled for this one agent in Central Business District (CBD) and decided to visit the offices. The offices were well-furnished and everything appeared professional.

“I was shown all company documents, and referral letters from satisfied customers among other things, I was convinced,” he said.

After various exchanges and engagements with the agent and the company’s ‘lawyer’, Muza paid US$36 000 for the property and was handed title deeds to the property.

He then decided to visit the house one last time in the company of his wife who had jetted into the country from Canada.

“I found a gentleman at the premises who advised me that he was related to the owners of the house and that it was not up for sale. Bewildered, I showed him the title deeds and everything that proved that I was now the rightful owner, but he remained adamant, even allowing me to talk to the owners,” said Muza.

The bogus agent who is a close relative of the family had access to the identity documents of the owners who relocated to Botswana and knew who was staying at the house and their whereabouts which is why he went to the house at times when no one was there and told Muza that a relative of the owners was staying at the place but was aware that the house was being sold.

The offices he saw, the branded vehicle, the documents, and the title deeds were all fake!

However, it was no prank, his US$36 000 vanished without a trace.

Investigations have been ongoing for some time and law enforcement seems to be zeroing in on the suspects.

Muza’s case is not an isolated one as it is replayed in many localities in the country where unscrupulous agents are using a myriad of techniques to hoodwink unsuspecting home seekers.

Having relocated to Australia, a woman approached an agent to manage her property, collecting rentals as well as overseeing the development of the property.

“We agreed that he takes 10 percent of the rentals but after some months he told me that the tenant could not afford to pay the US rental so was paying half of it in RTGS,” she told ZimSeen.

“Eventually, I was told that the tenant had left and the house was unoccupied. Little did I know that not only was the tenant there but he was religiously paying his rentals in US dollars. Besides getting a commission every month, he had overcharged the rental.”

Such is how bogus property agents are operating, fleecing desperate people who are already reeling from a harsh economic climate.

Recently, Lovejoy Nyamande from Seke, a district of Mashonaland East province, almost sold a stand for US$50 000 using fake documentation to Trinity Mukewo, a property developer.

Nyamande was in possession of title deeds and a fake national identity card belonging to Marlven Gono, the real owner of the stand.

The Estate Agents Council board chairman Nico Kuipa said Zimbabweans are losing their hard-earned investments to bogus agents who are using mainstream offline and online platforms to advertise non-existent properties to members of the public.

He, therefore, urged the public to deal only with registered estate agency firms who are in possession of valid Compensation Fund Certificates for each current year.

“The Compensation Fund does not cover claims related to losses arising from dealings with agents who are not properly registered with the Council,” he said, adding that bogus property agents are now prevalent in the country at all levels with the low-level ones charging people to assist them with getting accommodation.