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I have seen incredible lease offers on LH posted by brokers with years of comments praising their deals. When it comes down to choosing to move forward in a transaction how do you know the broker is legit. So far I have been asked to complete a full hard credit check through the brokers link and the send $799 via Venmo. Is that risky? My 30 years of law enforcement radar is screaming danger. I have read the comments in the brokers links praising single transactions, but their names are all LH handles link BigDealer, not their real names.
What could I do to verify legitimate brokers or at least reduce risk of loss?
One thought I had was verifying a physical address, but most are internet based.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
What broker are you referring to on here?
While I’m not positive, I imagine it’s possible to do the credit check at the dealer after you have paid your fee. The idea of paying the fee first prevents you from going to the dealer, asking for the same deal without paying the broker.
There are several that very well may be legit, but the explanation for the credit check is to ensure the price sheet accurately reflects the credit risks/rates. They then take the client’s credit score to the dealer they are working with to make sure the deal can be completed.
I agree, the fee should come first and then they connect with the dealer to link your credit application with the actual finance institution. If the credit falls below what the client is claiming then they lose the fee or parts of it.
With the pun intended, this forum essentially polices itself, the brokers and dealers pay for the page on here and agree to abide by certain terms with many of them involve delivering what you say you will at the agreed upon price to the consumer.
Anecdotally I would speculate that hundreds of transactions on here go exactly as both sides expect and everyone is happy. Every once in a blue moon maybe something goes sideways, out of those, I’d say most are still resolved. It’s still exceedingly rare that a consumer gets hosed in here and the review threads document the positive & negative experiences that people have.
For some reason your being evasive and not answering what broker your concerned about. Any particular reason you’re not open to telling us the brokers you have a concern about? Most of these people have chosen to make a career out of this, some have pretty intricate websites and so forth, it isn’t in their best interest to hose people over.
Always pay with a credit card the fee just for your own protection, incase it turns out to be a scam then you can file a charge back and get your money back from credit card company
Never use a debit card to send money to someone you don’t know, just very few protections.
Don’t send the money as friends and family either. You’re paying for a service so it should go under service payment.
He’s more concerned by credit check through a broker vs dealer
IMO If that’s a concern and a deal breaker, then just don’t work with that broker 
I understand folks are cautious about data protection and privacy… if it makes someone uncomfortable, then don’t do it.
If you’re not feeling comfortable, then don’t do the credit check through the Broker site. I personally wouldn’t have done it to myself.
Or find a licensed broker with his full name clearly visible, like @Benedetto lol
Thank you Apexhunter for your input. I am not listing the brokers I have reviewed their terms page because it could be considered an attack on their integrity, which is not the intent of my post. Rather I am trying source vetting strategies to insure as little risk for internet based large transactions.
I have asked these brokers the “why” they need hard credit checks and indisputable money payments to move the deals and the uniform answer has been “Thats the way brokers do it, if you dont like it go to a dealer.” I am hoping there is a middle ground where I could at least have a point to track down if they are a bad actor. I have no problem eating a $800 loss to a deal that goes bad as the risk/reward for some of the lease deals is worth it.
P.S. I made a living tracking down people and very few criminals got away for more than a month, yet here the tracks could all be dead ends.
Some brokers have a guarantee that they will secure a car for you once your credit app is approved and after broker fee. If they cannot get the car you agreed to then they will refund you the money. You will have to read their terms. Most brokers here, work on reputation as this is a community forum and they get their sales on this platform. They are in the service industry and I’m sure most will try to satisfy your demands, if possible. Scamming 1 customer, to lose 5 leads is not good business sense and they will be out of business.
A majority of brokers on this site have been on here a while and have hundreds of positive reviews under their current way of doing business. I understand where you’re coming from however in life I really hesitate to ask someone to do business a different way that they may not be comfortable with or just choose not to do it a different way. Under the premise you can’t really dictate to someone how to operate their business. Certainly it’s ok to ask if another way is available, however if several are operating this way, and they all say no, then obviously you have a decision to make.
Many times the middle ground is just to source the deal yourself utilizing everything that is available on this site, maybe you get to the same deal, and even if you don’t, maybe it’s still worth it to do it your way. If it costs more money, that’s ok, as in you did get to do it in a way you were comfortable with. I’m not really sure what to tell you and everyone has a different risk tolerance or risk / reward level they are comfortable with. Best of luck whichever way you choose to go!
I think most brokers on here are really great. Easy to deal with and quick to respond. Leasing a car is actually pretty simple once you’ve done it a few times. There really are not that many moving parts. If you can figure out the discount people are getting off MSRP, the rest is mostly just math.
Like anything in life, there are also a few not amazing people too.
I’ve used brokers from here multiple times and had some amazing experiences. One time, a broker lined up an incredible deal, but the dealer changed their mind at the last second. Honestly, I get it. Stuff happens.
What rubbed me the wrong way was the broker refusing to refund my fee. He offered either half back or a free future deal instead.
That said, if you do not have time to negotiate or deal with dealerships, I HIGHLY recommend using a broker from here. They will usually get you a much better deal than just walking into a dealership, and they save you a ton of time and headaches.
Also, there are some amazing members on here constantly posting deals they’ve gotten themselves. It really helps show what’s possible and gives you a good idea of what kind of discounts people are actually getting in the real world.
Outstanding feedback from you all. Thank you very much. I am much more comfortable as this feedback was amazingly fast. I can now see if a broker did something shady the group feedback shutting them down would be extremely fast.
If something strange happens, please DM the Community Moderators w/ your documentation (screenshots of texts, etc.). Issues w/ brokers are taken very seriously.
For someone with law enforcement background, it’s certainly a choice to ask if brokers on a forum are legit…on that forum.