A Texas woman who wanted a larger home in Fort Worth found a "great deal" on a rental property. She speaks to a man online who gave her a code to a smart lock, allowing her inside the home for the self-tour. She signs a lease and pays him. As she is trying to move in, she finds out that this was someone else's home and she lost over $2K in a growing scam.
Texas Woman Loses Over $2K in Rental Scam
CBS 11 News reported on Thursday that Mendi Cruson was looking for a larger home with a big backyard for her family, and she thought she found the perfect home in Forth Worth online "on websites like Realtor.com and Zillow."
That's how she met a man online named "Thomas Woodcock" who claimed to be the owner of the home and explained why he couldn't meet her in person.
He told her the following:
"I have several properties that I lease out with me and my partner, but I live out of state." -Thomas Woodcock, man claiming to be homeowner
Thomas Woodcock asked her to register her personal information on the website, 'InvitationHomes.com,' which gave her an access code to the smart lock which allowed Cruson to go inside and do a self-guided tour of the home.
She loved what she saw, so she wanted to move forward.
CBS 11 News reported that Cruson "paid more than $2,000 for the security deposit and first month's rent" and went ahead with moving in, after receiving documentation.
She Noticed Red Flags on Moving Day
On the moving day, she thought it was strange that she had to pay a locksmith to change the smart lock code on the house just to get into the house.
The next red flag was when a man driving a gray car showed up at her front door.
He asked her, "Why are you moving into my home?"
She replied, 'Sir, I have a lease, I can show you all the documentation, I'm renting this house."
The man informed her, "Well I'm moving in this weekend, you just watch and see."
Not long after this encounter, two Invitation Homes employees show up at the house and tell Cruson she was scammed.
The man she paid for the security deposit and first month's rent was a scammer and not the owner of the home.
The U.S. Sun recommends looking for discrepancies when home shopping, such as varying prices in rent on different websites. It might indicate that one of these is not the real listing.
In the case of Mendi Cruson, she found a price online that was listed much cheaper than InvitationHomes.com was leasing the home for. They invited Mendi to re-apply for a lease, which confirmed that the actual lease price was higher than what she paid in the scam. Her family was forced to move out weeks later.
CBS 11 News reported that this type of rental scam has been targeting large property management firms in North Texas, such as FirstKey, StreetLane Homes, and Progress Residential.
Thoughts
Now it is time for the reader to share your thoughts on this story.
- Did you know that scammers were listing homes and properties that didn't belong to them?
- What would you do if you came across a scam posting online?
Please like and share this article so others can be informed about the latest scams online.
Sources
Allen, Ginger. "I-Team finds rental scams targeting vacant homes in DFW." CBS 11 News. 14 March 2024.
Loreto, M.A. "I lost more than $2,000 the day I moved into my new home – the fact I had to pay a locksmith to even get in was a sign." The U.S. Sun. 15 March 2024.
Mendi Cruson on Facebook.
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