rentCheck

Seen a rental that looks too good? Check it before you pay. rentCheck scores any Irish rental ad for scam risk in about a minute, using Garda warning signs and official data.

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Inspiration

Renting in Ireland is hard, and scammers know it. Gardaí recorded over 230 rental and reservation scam reports, with losses of over €400,000, in the first seven months of 2026 alone (An Garda Síochána). Students and people new to Ireland are hit hardest. We're students in Cork, and we wanted a simple way to check an ad before sending money.

What it does

rentCheck checks a rental ad in about a minute:

  • You enter the address, Eircode, size, asking price (weekly or monthly) and, optionally, who posted it.
  • You tick the warning signs you've seen, such as being asked to pay before a viewing or to pay by crypto.
  • Each sign adds fixed points, giving a Low (0–24), Medium (25–49) or High (50–100) risk score with the reasons shown.
  • It links to the PSRA register to check if a letting agent is licensed, and lets you share the ad with a friend before paying.
  • Nothing you type is saved.

How we built it

A lightweight website in HTML, CSS and JavaScript, hosted on Netlify and versioned on GitHub. The scoring is fixed rules in JavaScript, not a black box, so every point can be explained. We used an AI assistant (Claude) to help us plan, write and debug the code.

Challenges we ran into

  • One teammate's GitHub account was suspended mid-hackathon, so we moved the repo to another teammate's account.
  • Our first version was too complex for us to explain, so we rebuilt it simpler so everyone on the team understands every line.
  • Deciding which warning signs to use and how many points each is worth.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • A working, live tool built in one day, at our first hackathon.
  • A score that explains itself, instead of just saying "risky".
  • It works on anonymous Facebook ads, where review-based tools can't help.

What we learned

How to work as a team on GitHub (clone, commit, push), deploy on Netlify, and turn official advice from Gardaí, the RTB and the PSRA into clear rules. We also learned that a simple tool you understand beats a complex one you can't explain.

What's next for rentCheck

  • Compare the price with official CSO/RTB average rents for that area automatically.
  • DepositCheck: flag deposits or advance rent above Irish legal limits (one month each).
  • Read a screenshot or link of the ad with AI, so there's no typing.
  • Verify the Eircode really exists, and check the RTB register automatically.
  • Partner with students' unions and college accommodation offices.

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