The first home of anyone arriving in the United States is almost always a rental. Sammy Veicer, a realtor in Orange County, recommends it: rent for at least a year, understand the culture and find out whether the area suits the family before buying. In the second episode of Cadê Moradia, he and Jason Lanzarini explain why renting can be harder for immigrants — and where the scams lurk.

"I'll tell you right off the bat: it's harder for immigrants to rent." — Jason Lanzarini, on the episode

How the application works

Once you pick a property, you fill out an application (rental application) and pay a screening fee. Sammy points out that every person over 18 who will live in the house submits their own application. The property manager runs what's known as a background check: credit, rental history, eviction records and criminal background.

The landlord's logic, Jason sums up, is to choose whoever represents the least risk — and between a candidate with ten years of employment and history in the country and a newcomer with nothing, the advantage is clear.

What the law caps

California regulates this charge. Under the Civil Code (section 1950.6), the application fee can't exceed the actual cost of screening or a cap adjusted for inflation every year — $65.86 per applicant in 2026. Since January 2025, under AB 2493, landlords must also review applications in the order received or refund the fee to anyone not considered, and give applicants a copy of the credit report used.

The fee scam and the copied listing

Sammy describes the most common scam: the criminal copies the listing of a real house, posts it on another site at a price a bit below average — if the area goes for $1,000, they list it for $850 — and collects application fees from hundreds of people. Nobody hears back. Jason says he saw a rental "open house" repeated for almost a year, always with stacks of paid applications, and got suspicious.

The more serious variation is asking for a deposit to "hold" the property, as in the scam where a house that's for sale gets advertised for rent. Both note that this circulates widely in unmoderated Facebook groups. Jason explains that the Cadê Brazil groups filter listings: new profiles, with accounts less than six months old, don't get their posts approved.

• Tour the inside of the property before paying anything.
• Be wary of prices far below average and of any rush.
• Confirm who the owner is (county public records) or the property manager.
• Never pay a deposit without a signed lease.

Sublet rooms: the risk many people don't see

Renting a room in someone's house is common among newcomers. The two warn about the most frequent case: the person subletting doesn't have permission from the owner or the lease to do so. If the landlord finds out, they can demand that the occupant leave — and the "secondhand" tenant is left unprotected. For whoever is renting out the room, the risk is different: without the screening property managers do, you don't know who is moving into your home. "You think it'll never happen to you," says Jason.

Start your history before you move

Sammy's advice to those still in Brazil: if possible, open an account at an American bank and start building a history — a card, a small loan — before the move. It isn't mandatory, and there are ways to rent without a history, but it helps a lot.

Jason describes what he did when he arrived in 2013: he put only half down on his car and financed the rest to get credit "rolling," and opened a credit card. He also explains one disadvantage immigrants face: American teenagers often start out with their parents as co-signer on their first loan; immigrants start from zero. Online banks and cards backed by a security deposit (secured cards) make that first step easier. This newspaper's article on credit scores explains how they're calculated.

Rental agents: no fixed rule

In Brazil, it's customary to pay the first month's rent to the agent. In California there's no rule: some charge a percentage of the first month, of the first year or a flat fee, and many agents don't handle rentals at all, because the effort is the same as a sale and the pay much lower. Sammy says he helps anyway, for the relationship.

Sources and verification

• Episode 2 of the Cadê Moradia podcast (February 2026), with Sammy Veicer and Jason Lanzarini.
• California Civil Code, section 1950.6 — application fee cap (adjusted annually; $65.86 in 2026).
• AB 2493 (2024), in effect since 01/01/2025 — order of review, fee refunds and copy of the report.
• Federal Trade Commission — alerts about rental scams.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — how to build a credit history.

This topic comes from the full episode — watch it:

CADÊ BRAZIL