I'm not sure how a guy this smart is homeless and doesn't have a job, but it is a pretty creative way to steal money from people. Eric Sisson is a homeless guy in Florida. During his walks he found a vacant home that was unlocked. Instead of just living there, Eric decided to make some money. He posted an ad on Craigslist saying that the house was for rent. Well, when people started to respond to the ad, he would tell them to tour it on their own and if they were interested, to let him know. Two different women were interested and gave him a total of $1375. That seems really low for a house. From two people? They should have known something was strange then. One of them did get a little suspicious when she found someone else moving into the house the other thought she had rented. The police were called and arrests were made. It turns out the house is in foreclosure and the woman who owns it doesn't live there any longer.
What a dick. I'm tired of lame people.
ReplyDeleteI knew a guy who did the same thing he rented a house and he re-rented it before he moved out to an Indian family of at least 13. He took a deposit and first month's rent. It was a clusterfuck when the real owner showed up. Needless to say my friend was arrested and pled out. But he was more amused with doing it than getting caught.
ReplyDeleteBut at least he didn't eat them.
ReplyDeleteIf scammers would use that brainpower for good, society would be a much better place.
ReplyDeleteI am going to forward this pic on to my mid-life crisis brother in hopes that he will finally stop wearing Affliction. Yeah he lives in FL too.
And always remember when something is too good to be true it probably isn't . Just ask Katie Holmes.
ReplyDeleteActually, this stuff is happening all the time up here in Northern California! There have been a few people convicted of renting out foreclosed homes that they had no business doing. Here is a link to that mess: http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=20482759
ReplyDeleteThere are also a group of squatters who keep putting restraining orders on the banks and realtors to stay in foreclosed properties for free. Here is a link to that mess:
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_20500025/realtor-fights-restraining-order-from-antioch-house-squatters
He looks insane. I wouldn't rent a beach chair from him.
ReplyDeleteYou say homeless, I say entrepeneur.
ReplyDeleteI was looking into buying some foreclosed home at auction, and was appalled at how difficult it is to kick someone out of a house you legally own.
ReplyDeleteThe homes I was interested in had inhabitants living in them at least 2 years without making a mortgage payment. One person was in there for 5 years.
That does remind me, I did see some rental scams like this on Craigslist here in Cleveland. I googled up the address and it came up as a bank owned foreclosure.
ReplyDeleteHair over fat chin is awesome.
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ReplyDeleteMy best friend and her mother almost fell for this scam in CT. When I tried pointing out that paying $1,200 for a two bedroom house in a beautiful section of freakin' Greenwich was a *bit* of a stretch, my friend kind of wised up. (And they both should have KNOWN better, as they lived there for 20+ years!)
ReplyDeletehahahha anyone dumb enough to do anything from craigslist deserves theit misery. Go homeless guy. Hope he got some drinks and some good bud out of the deal. hahhahha
ReplyDeleteto be fair, I got scammed out of $2850 from craigslist last summer. Yeah I am a dumb idiot.
ReplyDeleteIsn't there some legal loophole where you can establish residence in a home you didn't ever purchase? I seem to remember a news piece to that effect.
ReplyDeleteSee the movie starring Jack Black as the enterprising homeless man!
ReplyDeleteI work in real estate and we have to keep an eye on Craig's List b/c scammers are copying and pasting our ads, put placing their information at the bottom. Folks end up falling for it, thinking after mailing $1000 deposit, they will receive keys. Unfortunately, we've had people come to the office asking for keys and telling us about the money they mailed in, etc. And we have to tell them we don't advertise on Craig's List and they've been scammed. I hate those days :(
ReplyDeleteThis is so very common on Craigslist purely because people really want to beleive they can rent a 6 BR /5Bath house with a spectacular veiw of the bay/ocean/mountain/major landmark because the owner is in the military/foreign service/away on a spiritual journey/renting for their aged grandmother recently put into a care facility so please deposit into an anonymous bank account for $750 a month before you even look at the place. Really...And then they get mad because they were had.
ReplyDeleteSo he's homeless, yet has access to craigslist and obviously some kind of phone in order for people to contact him...???
ReplyDelete@ Ice Angel these were my thoughts exactly
Delete@ Ice Angel these were my thoughts exactly
Delete@luckylass - It really is eyeopening and not in a good way when you see how long some of these people have been living in homes for free. My husband and I went had a situation with a renter not leaving. We ended up just selling the house (much later on) and washing our hands of any rental property dreams.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure this scam is going on around the whole country right now.
ReplyDeleteHere we're a huge rental market (both long-term and weekly/vacation) and the warnings have gone around about this for about a year now.
Most states/counties have the property appraiser's office on line so you can check ownership of a property. Or if you're not sure, hire a PI. We can check ownership for a minimal charge.
ReplyDeleteHappens everywhere constantly. Sometimes they even change the locks and show the houses. Most times they claim they are missionaries in Africa and if you mail them the deposit, they'll mail you the keys.
ReplyDeleteIt has progressed to motor homes. I also get a lot of responses from people saying, Sorry I just sold the Ipod I had advertised for half the price of the others but I got it on bizrate or whatever, you can too.
@Popcorn Sutton: That sucks the big one. I am glad you are out it! I have a friend in the same situation now. She also has thousands in utility bills that the renters never paid and now they are putting a lien on the house. It took her at least 6 months to kick the tenants out and the house was full of high end electronics. She was too nice to seize their stuff (which I think you can do in this state).
ReplyDeleteYeah, the more I researched, the more I have decided to steer clear of the rental property investments.
This is actually an old gypsy scam. It's pulled fairly often...person rents the house to as many people as he/she can, gets the security deposits, first and last months rent, then sets a move-in date. Everyone shows up the same day and realizes they've been taken.
ReplyDeleteI got totally lucky, then. I found my apartment on CL and it's gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteYa know I sounded like a dick in my comment. I know someone else here had a bad situation and I really am sorry that happened. With the way housing is these days even the most diligent person can be the victim of a scam. My biggest point is to be smart and don't let a "good" deal blind you to getting an affordable, safe place to live. The old addage, "If it's too good to be true it probably is." definitely applies here.
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