Opinion: Watch out for scams involving foreclosed houses
To the community,
We have encountered a new scam up here, at least new to us, that is probably a byproduct of the foreclosure crises.
Here is how it goes: bad guy/gal(s) find unoccupied home that is in foreclosure. They list the home for rent on a place like Craig’s List. If they need to show the home, they break in and boldly do so, sometimes removing notices and real estate signs to obscure that the property is in distress or under the control of another entity. They accept money for first/last/deposit, etc., and then disappear.
The poor wound-be tenant later finds out that his lease/tenancy is a farce.
Thanks to some nice work by El Dorado County sheriff’s deputies, we have all three suspects identified in the one we just saw up here, which cost our victim more than $4,000, as to which we will of course seek a restitution order.
This one might be harder than some to detect/defeat. Probably be best to be suspicious of any claimed property manager who does not have an established office, business cards, etc.
A call to California Department of Real Estate or a check with their Internet site can verify whether the person has a license, assuming you really have their true name. If dealing with a claimed owner unfamiliar to the prospective tenant, probably no harm in writing down license plates, asking for ID and verifying ownership with county records.
Back when not too many homes foreclosed and those that did tended to move fairly quickly to new occupants, this probably would not have been nearly as easy to pull off as it apparently is now. Now, with some foreclosed homes sitting empty for months at a time, combined with an over-heated rental market (in part caused by persons dispossessed from their homes), there appears to be a window of opportunity for these crooks.
Hans Uthe, El Dorado County assistant district attorney
I had a similar problem with my house that was for sale here last year through a regular sale. My real estate agent asked me if I had put it up for rent while we were trying to sell it. Someone listed it on Craigslist for rent to which I replied to the ad and told them I was interested in the property. Pretty interesting Nigerian scam they were trying to pull. After several emails back and forth I let them know in some quite colorful language what I thought of their scam and that the property they were trying to rent out was mine! It’s amazing to think anyone would have wired them money to get the key. They had taken the real estate pictures and description of the house right off the internet and posted it on Craigslist like it was their’s. Jerks!
I, and I’m sure every Realtor I work with, would be happy to help by looking up the title owner name for someone. It is public record, but hard for many to get to the clerks office. I’m with McCall Realty. We want to help protect the public from this scam.
I’ve had a similar experience that Ex had. On 3 separate occasions I have checked out property listed for rent on Craigslist simply because they usually list the rent at a ridiculously low amount. I was given an address by the poster so I drove to see the properties and then checked Zillow.com to see if it was listed for sale. Sure enough. I made contact with the realtor and let them know someone was trying to rent it and collect $. I also got an email from the poster saying they work for the World Health Organization and blah, blah, blah. When in doubt call any realtor in town as Ms. Kolb suggested.