When you are a landlord with a house to rent, it is so tempting to bite when you think you have a hot lead for a tenant.
Last week I placed an ad on Craig’s List for our Beverly Hills rental home, in addition to our other marketing activities. The ad snared an interested party within an hour of going live. Boy, was I excited! Visions of a positive cash flow rolled in my head.
There were a few red flags in the gentleman’s email, but I remained cautiously hopeful. He asked me to send him pictures, yet there were photos on the ad and a link to 25 more there. I don’t think he actually read the ad.
“John” told me that he is currently in England and his employer is moving him here. He asked for the total move in costs and told me he wanted the house. He engaged the services of a designer who would be getting the furniture and things he would need for the home so it would be ready when he moved in. He wanted to send me a check for twice the move in cost and have me give his designer money so she could start furnishing the place. He would not be able to complete an application or a lease until he arrived in January.
Hmmmm. All suspicious.
Still, there was some small hope he was legit. So we told him to wire us the money. Of course, that was not an option for him. He could only send his company’s check.
Then we told him to send a cashiers check from a local bank. Also not an option.
Of course, I knew this was going no where, but my last carrot to him was to send the check to his designer and have her give us cash for the security deposit and rent. I have not heard from John since.
Boy it sure would have been nice to have a new tenant, but having his check bounce after I gave cash to his designer would have been the most likely outcome of this sad story.
Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Marianne Sweet 12.24.08 at 7:27 am
This just happened to Virginia too for a desk she was selling on craigslist from an estate sale. When she received the check, it well over the price of the desk, and the buyer told her to keep $50 “for her trouble”, and send him a check for the whatever was left over after the moving costs….about $2000. The shysters are out there, and they love craigslist!
castle hills homes for sale lewisville texas 12.26.08 at 1:18 am
Very nicely done! Thank you for the information.
Ross Felling 12.26.08 at 5:31 pm
Ya, unfortunately, this is a very common scam on craigslist. It use to be a problem on Ebay, along w/ different “money order” scams; however, since they changed their registration process, it’s not as prevalent.
Congrats. on not being a victim.
Realty.com 12.31.08 at 1:34 pm
Sorry to hear you had this experience! Ridiculous that these guys think you’ll fall for the bait and even more ridiculous that they pull these scams in the first place. Glad you avoided it.