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Started By
Message
Friend of mine dealt with an interesting scam recently
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:09 pm
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:09 pm
A friend of mine that manages bank repos like I do pulled up to a house he has been managing for a bank for a year now and it was occupied. No big deal because that happens from time to time where a house gets sold and the banks forget to tell us.
The standard is to knock and verify then take a few pictures so you can invoice for your time. What was different is these were foreigners who were renting and claimed they found the house on Craigslist. They claimed they met one day with the landlord who changed the locks then collected their deposit and first months rent. Thing is that the house hasn't sold and the guy they met doesn't own it. The bank still does. The reason the guy probably had to change the lock is because he broke it or drilled it out when breaking in.
Apparently this is a scam that's catching on. People search HUD listings and drive by to see if they are still vacant and if the utilities are on. If all of that checks out then they "rent" the house out to grab some cash quickly from unsuspecting victims.
Now the bank has a mess on their hands and they have to evict people that shouldn't even be there plus spend money to resecure the property.
The standard is to knock and verify then take a few pictures so you can invoice for your time. What was different is these were foreigners who were renting and claimed they found the house on Craigslist. They claimed they met one day with the landlord who changed the locks then collected their deposit and first months rent. Thing is that the house hasn't sold and the guy they met doesn't own it. The bank still does. The reason the guy probably had to change the lock is because he broke it or drilled it out when breaking in.
Apparently this is a scam that's catching on. People search HUD listings and drive by to see if they are still vacant and if the utilities are on. If all of that checks out then they "rent" the house out to grab some cash quickly from unsuspecting victims.
Now the bank has a mess on their hands and they have to evict people that shouldn't even be there plus spend money to resecure the property.
This post was edited on 6/9/15 at 9:10 pm
16
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:11 pm to stout
wow. that's a lot of work. frick all that effort for that mediocre payout
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:11 pm to stout
That's awesome, smart scammers
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:13 pm to Carson123987
quote:
wow. that's a lot of work. frick all that effort for that mediocre payout
Dude, a deposit and rent check could total a quick $2K+ for very little effort. Do that a few times a month and it's not mediocre payout.
Just because it's a repo doesn't mean it's not a nice house that would bring in nice rent. We manage them from $10K PoS to $2 Million McMansions. Wealthy people go broke too.
This post was edited on 6/9/15 at 9:14 pm
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:14 pm to stout
I actually feel sorry for the foreigners, who probably didn't have much cash in the first place...
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:14 pm to Spankum
No doubt. I forgot to mention that. Now a family gets displaced and might not have money to rent their next place.
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:16 pm to stout
Sounds kind of like the scam that was going around a few years ago where people rent out homes on Craig's List in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Problem is they don't own the rentals and the true owners don't know anything about it.
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:17 pm to stout
Thanks stout I am looking at my local HUD listing now. 
I Always Wanted To Be A landlord.
I Always Wanted To Be A landlord.
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:17 pm to stout
This has been happening for years here already and in more states hit harder with recession/depression. Sad that it has spread.
Squatting
Craigslist is full of people that do this. They also have a scam going on Craigslist that people place the ad for rent with fake pictures and say no credit check. Then they send you to a place to PAY to run a check on you so you can get in the fake house right away. The site is a scam that steals not only your money but your identity/info is sold.
Squatting
Craigslist is full of people that do this. They also have a scam going on Craigslist that people place the ad for rent with fake pictures and say no credit check. Then they send you to a place to PAY to run a check on you so you can get in the fake house right away. The site is a scam that steals not only your money but your identity/info is sold.
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:17 pm to stout
You need to tell them to get their asses out of there cause Gator don't play no shite.
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:17 pm to Spankum
quote:
I actually feel sorry for the foreigners, who probably didn't have much cash in the first place...
You may have the wrong idea. Most foreigners here is Houston come from money in their home land and make bank here too. I actually had a neighbor in Cinco that was a deli meat guy at Kroger. And he lived in a $400+k house with over $1000 HOAs. Nice Indian family. But they came from money in India.
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:28 pm to cajunangelle
quote:
Squatting
I know what squatting is, bro. I have been in real estate for a long time and have run across a few crackheads hanging out in vacant houses and shitting on the carpet because there's no water.
This is different because 99% of the time that's who you are dealing with when you find squatters. Not someone thinking they are legit renting a house.
Another CSB from when I was a Realtor.
We had a contract to sell a bunch of houses around Ft Polk for the CoE. Each agent was assigned a number of houses and we had to do monthly inspections on them for marketing reports. A convict had recently escaped the Parish jail and was on the loose. A female agent went to check on one of her CoE houses and as soon as she opened the door he punched her right in the eye and knocked her out cold. She came to later and called 911 and the cops rushed out and found the guy a few miles down the road. She had a black eye for two weeks.
She carried mace after that and I have carried a pistol ever since.
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:41 pm to stout
quote:
No doubt. I forgot to mention that. Now a family gets displaced and might not have money to rent their next place.
Since you and your friend are in the industry, and he knows their information. Maybe you two can quietly give them a lead on someone to talk to?
If they would be willing to relocate I can get them a cheap, legit, rental home by tomorrow. 2 bed 2 bath, $450/month, or $600 a month for the first three months without a deposit. Decent little place, middle of flipping nowhere though. Blountsville, AL....
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:42 pm to VaBamaMan
Doubt they want to move to Bama from Arizona
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:48 pm to stout
quote:
Doubt they want to move to Bama from Arizona
When they hear the difference in living expenses they might.
Seriously though, because everyone plays with their profile's location and favorite college team, I forgot you do actually live in Arizona.
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:50 pm to VaBamaMan
quote:
I forgot you do actually live in Arizona.
No, I am in South Lousiana. My friend is in AZ.
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:52 pm to stout
I saw an episode of 20/20 recently that had this exact same thing happen to a home in Maryland - A realtor was going as far as submitting forgerd titles
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:53 pm to stout
why not just keep renting to them to avoid the hassle of evicting them? Let whoever buys the house deal with them. I'm sure there are laws against this but it would be easier and beneficial to everyone.
Posted on 6/9/15 at 9:59 pm to stout
I had a house on the market in Bossier a couple of years back. I was living in Baton Rouge and house was sitting empty. Out of the blue one morning my realtor calls me seriously pissed that I am trying to rent the house out from under her listing. I am ??? And ask her WTF she is yelling at me about.
She forwards me a listing on some national rental home website. Pics of my house. Check. Info on my house. Check. Stats on my house. Check. Contact email. Not me.
Traced it to some guy in NYC and actually got him on the phone. Seems he had to "move up North" but would rent to me sight unseen since I seemed like a nice family guy. Was going to have me wire him the deposit and first months rent and someone would drop off the keys. fricker.
She forwards me a listing on some national rental home website. Pics of my house. Check. Info on my house. Check. Stats on my house. Check. Contact email. Not me.
Traced it to some guy in NYC and actually got him on the phone. Seems he had to "move up North" but would rent to me sight unseen since I seemed like a nice family guy. Was going to have me wire him the deposit and first months rent and someone would drop off the keys. fricker.
Posted on 6/9/15 at 10:00 pm to C
Because it's going to be much harder to sell a house with renters in it and also because after a house is on the market for a certain period of time they try other options to move it. Auctions being one of them and you can't auction a house with people in it.
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