If you’re heading to Cal State Long Beach and starting to think about where you’ll actually live, here’s what you need to know before you start touring places.

College housing markets near Cal State Long Beach attract scammers for the same reason every college market does: students searching remotely, on a deadline, unfamiliar with the local market, and eager to lock something down before classes start.

What to watch for near Long Beach

• A price well below what you’re seeing for comparable units in Belmont Shore / Los Altos or the other neighborhoods nearby — a suspiciously good deal is the single most common bait.
• A “landlord” who won’t meet in person or do a live video walkthrough, and pushes you toward wiring money or paying with gift cards instead.
• Listing photos that show up, with different contact info, on other sites — a quick reverse image search catches this in seconds.
• Pressure to pay a deposit immediately because “someone else is about to take it,” especially common right before the semester or quarter starts when demand near Cal State Long Beach spikes.

How to verify before you pay anything

1. Ask for a live video walkthrough if an in-person tour isn’t possible.
2. Look up the property owner through your county’s tax assessor records and confirm the name matches who you’re paying.
3. Never wire money or use gift cards for a deposit — use a payment method you can trace and dispute if something goes wrong.
4. Search the address plus “scam” before committing — if it’s happened before, someone has likely posted about it.

The easier fix

Platforms like RentNova verify listings and ownership before a property goes live, which removes most of this verification work for you if you’d rather not run it all down yourself during an already busy move-in season.