Rental scams in Tbilisi and Batumi repeat the same patterns year after year, only the faces change. We process hundreds of listings a day and see all of them. Here is the full list of what people fall for, and how to verify an apartment before you hand over money.
Scam 1. Deposit before viewing
The classic. Price 30-40% below market, magazine-quality photos. You write, the owner is "abroad right now" but happy to ship the keys or reserve the flat for you, just send a deposit. The apartment does not exist. The photos are stolen from Airbnb or someone else's listing.
Rule: not a single lari before you have physically been inside the apartment. No exceptions. A real owner never asks for a deposit before a viewing.
Scam 2. Bait pricing
A flat in Vake for 400 dollars when the market is 800. The listing is real, the phone answers, but "that one is taken, we have another". The other one is worse and more expensive. Some agencies work exactly like this: bait to get your call.
Rule: check the price against the district average. We publish daily-updated averages for every Tbilisi district on our statistics page. If an offer is a third below market, it is almost always either fake or bait.
Scam 3. The "owner's agent"
You find an "owner" listing, arrive at the viewing, and an agent greets you asking for a commission of 50-100% of monthly rent. The owner "asked him to help". You do not owe that commission: you never ordered the service.
Rule: confirm in writing before the viewing who will be there and whether there is a commission. In our bot, agent listings are labeled: we track how many flats each phone number posts.
Scam 4. The deposit that never comes back
The most common story involves real apartments: you pay a deposit at move-in, and at move-out they discover a "damaged sofa" worth exactly your deposit. Without an inventory you cannot prove anything.
Rule: photograph everything at move-in including existing stains and scratches, send the photos to the owner in a messenger (this timestamps them) and attach an inventory with condition notes to the contract.
Scam 5. The wrong owner
The person showing the flat does not own it: a subtenant, a relative, a former tenant with keys. You pay a deposit and a month upfront, and the real owner shows up a week later.
Rule: in Georgia, ownership can be checked online in minutes. Ask for the owner's document and match it against the public registry at napr.gov.ge. If they refuse to show documents, walk away.
The contract: what must be in it
- Passport details of both parties and the cadastral number of the flat
- Term, rent amount, and the rules for raising it (without this clause the price can jump in a month)
- Deposit amount and exact return conditions
- Inventory of property with condition notes
- Who pays utilities and how meter readings are handed over
A contract in Georgian plus your language is valid without a notary, but for a long lease notarization is cheap and keeps both sides honest.
Quick checklist
- Price far below market: check the price statistics, most likely fake
- Money only after a physical viewing
- Verify the owner against the napr.gov.ge registry
- Agree on any agent commission in writing before the viewing
- Deposit terms and inventory go into the contract
- Send move-in photos to the owner in a messenger
One last thing: the faster you see new listings, the lower the chance you settle for something shady out of desperation. Our bot @georgia_aparts_bot sends apartments matching your filters the moment they are published and labels the agents.