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CENSORED Rental Ripoffs St Augustine No Housing Solutions Offered Tents Sewage Trash Meth Pipes
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https://www.news4jax.com/i-team/2022/02/14/i-team-dont-be-the-next-victim-of-a-rental-rip-off/
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The News4JAX I-TEAM is uncovering a rental rip-off with a new twist. With so many people trying to find a home to rent and grabbing what they can quickly, you could get scammed out of thousands of dollars — even though you think you’ve done the right research.
Graduate student Veranda Riccardi found that out after she moved into a home in St. Johns County and was living there for almost a week when she learned she hadn’t rented the home at all and wasn’t legally allowed to be there.
“It all just seemed so unreal,” she said.
Riccardi was looking for a place to live in January to start her graduate program at the University of St. Augustine.
“We found the listing through Craigslist, and then we saw it was on a bunch of other (sites), Apartment.com, Rent.com, so we thought, ‘OK. It’s a legit sale,’” she said.
Riccardi says she noticed the rental price and phone numbers were different on each website — which are red flags — but says the man she spoke to claimed to be the owner and had an answer for the different dollar figures. In fact, she says he had an answer for everything she asked.
“He said one included utility and a cleaning service, and the other was just the house rent which sounded pretty legit,” she said.
“How did you get into the house?” News4JAX consumer investigator Lauren Verno asked Riccardi.
“It was a lockbox,” she answered. “He said just texted me when you’re there I will give you a code to the lock box which made us feel like it wasn’t a scam because he was able to have access to the lockbox.”
Communicating back and forth over the phone and by text, Riccardi says she was able to get into the home with no problems. And she signed what she thought was a legitimate contract. The man who claimed to own the house even went as far as sending her a copy of a driver’s license to prove he was real.
“It’s the little things like that, that he knew to say to keep it a legit thing,” Riccardi said.
In total, Riccardi sent the man $3,000 through Zelle. And when she noticed the name on the Zelle account was different than the name on the driver’s license — yes, he had an answer for that, too. He claimed it was his wife.
The money went through and that week, Riccardi moved into the home.
“How did you find out this was actually a scam?” Lauren asked.
“This guy comes up and knocks on the door, and he’s basically, like, ‘Are you guys living here?’ And (my roommate) was, like, ‘Yes.’ And was like, ‘No!’” Riccardi said.
The man who knocked on the door was a representative for American Homes 4 Rent — the leasing company that property appraiser records show is the actual owner of the property.
“That’s when we found out it was a scam and he said immediately, you have to be out by Monday. This was a Thursday,” explained Riccardi.
Riccardi filed a police report with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, ...
Category | News & Politics |
Sensitivity | Normal - Content that is suitable for ages 16 and over |
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