Poll of the Day > Why? What is this person doing?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Back in June 2016 I went hunting to a new apartment.

I usually go for apartment complexes but due to my work constantly having me move, and I incurring charges for breaking lease early... I decided to go and rent from a regular joe.

Found a guy that owns a spot, and I contacted him. He has an ad on craigslist, and I emailed him. Craigslist, a mistake, I know. He calls me up and tells me that he's showing off the place. Okay, cool. I go and there's also other people wanting to view the place.

I filled out an application with my information so that he can do a background check. I see the place, and he's all concerned about keeping it clean and that he does monthly inspections.

Fair enough.

He tells me I clear the background and am good to go. I say I want it, and give my deposit(money order). No lease was given. Now in this state that's illegal. You can't accept money for a place without giving a lease.

So the place is supposed to be ready by "x" date. The day came, and it wasn't ready. He fed me some BS about still having to do work in it. After some time of the same thing I say, "You know what, I'll take it the way it is. I'll fix it up myself." To which he replied, "No!!!! When I give people the place I want it to be in perfect condition."

So... something is striking me funny and I check Craigslist. Lo and behold he's still posting the place up for rent. I have my girl call and pretend she's interested. He calls her back. Tells her, "Yes," and then tells her he's showing it off this upcoming week.

So, at this point I call my bank and let them know to stop payment on the money order. They urge me to try and get it back as it'll be an easier process.

So I show up, and act all cool like, "Ya know what... I changed my mind. Give me my money order back." He goes to get it. Then returns empty handed like, "I misplaced it."

Ok.

At this point I completely change. Note that I've been just as fake as he has. That's my natural reaction to liars and fake people. I go, "Okay, time to stop the shit. I KNOW you haven't worked on that place since you showed it to me. I KNOW you've been posting it up all the while keeping me hanging. And I KNOW you've been showing it to others cause you did it to my girl. I don't know wtf kind of scam you got here but you can go back inside, find my deposit and we both go our separate ways as if we never met. Or you get your posts flagged and I get authorities involved into this."

He went inside and found it.

Then he tried to get me to see the place again. Something struck me so funny about that. Like he was gonna try some shit, ya know?

Anyway, it's been almost a year but I worry about all the info I gave in the application. I see that he is STILL posting the same place up for rent and has been since then. Something is so off.

My question is... what is this guy doing? Collecting info? Stealing $500 from people at a time and hoping they don't take him to court for it? What!? Anyone know of any possibilities?
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RebelGameMaster posted...

My question is... what is this guy doing? Collecting info? Stealing $500 from people at a time and hoping they don't take him to court for it? What!? Anyone know of any possibilities?

Yeah, stealing info and the deposits. I'm not an expert on this type of scam, but IIRC typically people pulling this don't own the property and just have some sort of illicit access to it, so he shows it off pretending to be the landlord/property manager and conning people out of their deposits until the real landlord actually rents the place.
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Kungfu Kenobi posted...

RebelGameMaster posted...

My question is... what is this guy doing? Collecting info? Stealing $500 from people at a time and hoping they don't take him to court for it? What!? Anyone know of any possibilities?

Yeah, stealing info and the deposits. I'm not an expert on this type of scam, but IIRC typically people pulling this don't own the property and just have some sort of illicit access to it, so he shows it off pretending to be the landlord/property manager and conning people out of their deposits until the real landlord actually rents the place.

His son of the same name owns it. I'm sure. I did my research on him after the fact.

How would I know if he used my SSN? Think he sells it off? He lives next door to the property btw.
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You should definitely report him to the authorities. You should also keep a close eye on your credit report and bank account.
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RebelGameMaster posted...

His son of the same name owns it. I'm sure.

That doesn't exactly contradict what I said. Maybe the father is doing this behind the son's back.

RebelGameMaster posted...

How would I know if he used my SSN?

There are as many answers to that question as there are uses for your SSN. Stuff you can look out for are strange things on your credit report, such as lines of credit you didn't apply for, or a big change in your credit score.
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Kungfu Kenobi posted...

RebelGameMaster posted...

His son of the same name owns it. I'm sure.

That doesn't exactly contradict what I said. Maybe the father is doing this behind the son's back.

RebelGameMaster posted...

How would I know if he used my SSN?

There are as many answers to that question as there are uses for your SSN. Stuff you can look out for are strange things on your credit report, such as lines of credit you didn't apply for, or a big change in your credit score.

I'm not 100% sure on his son owning it but it's a suspicion.

And yes, I've been working with my bank to check my credit as often as it won't negatively affect me. It's a good bank.

But I'm so curious as to what he's doing and who I should report it to. The PD must have a division for this.
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