Sunday, February 21, 2021

The Story of Fernando and the Rental Scam

I was up the old house, Doug was here at the new house unloading the Jeep. 

I heard a little neighbor boy named Jake, who lives up the side street, screaming. I looked out the kitchen window to see his big old lab-mix of a dog named Bear hauling ass down the road.  Bear was a good friend of Brodie's, and would hang out with her in the grass while I talked to Jake's dad, Matt, during the after dinner outside time in the summer. Bear was very patient, and seemingly very docile. Seeing him run was quite the sight. 

Jake was frantic, and Bear was on the go. I went outside to try to help, Bear didn't have a collar on, and was very evasive. He let me run my hand down his back, but there was nothing to hold on to, other than his tail. Which, I was reluctant to grab because who likes having their tail grabbed. 

He took off again, running south down our street toward our new place. I regretted not grabbing his tail.

Doug was standing out front talking to someone, and so I yelled to him to grab Bear. He noticed the situation and crossed the street to try and help. Bear just kept going, and Jake screamed to Doug that he needed help. 

A guy pulled up next to me in his car, "Do you need help catching your dog?" he asked me. 

I had a chuckle as I thought of The Pink Panther and almost answered in a French accent with Clouseau's famous line "It's not my dog," but said in all seriousness, "Yes. We need help." If the guy caught the dog and brought him back to this house, at least we were close enough to Jake's that we could get Bear home. 

Doug wasn't able to grab Bear either, and the guy in the car said he'd try to get Bear in. Doug went down the road where Jake had kind of cornered Bear, and the guy had his door open. Bear almost got in, and then decided to take off again. 

I went back into the house, because I felt useless and helpless and had left the kitchen sink running when I heard Jake screaming for help, and hoped for the best. I went down to the basement to pack up the utility room, and was busily piling things into our roasting pan to put in a box when I heard Doug walking around upstairs.

"Honey," Doug called to me, "Where are you?"

Me: "In the basement, in the laundry room." 

DWG: "Can you come up here a minute?"

Me: "No, can you come down here?" 

DWG: "Actually no I need you up here, please." He was very polite sounding, which was odd especially considering how tired we both are, and how we're just done with everything. So I figured something must be up.  I thought maybe he had caught Bear and needed my help.

I went up to see him standing in the living room with a man and his daughter. I smiled brightly. "Oh hello!" 

Who the heck are these people? I wondered.

"This is Fernando," Doug introduced. "He came to our new place, and said he was there to pick up the keys. He's supposed to be renting the house. The one that we have just moved into."

Oh dear. Oh.... fucking hell.

His daughter explained they had found the listing on Craigslist, complete with photos of the interior, and the rent was $1000 a month. The man had told him he had to relocate to Michigan quickly and needed to rent the place as soon as possible. He was going to have a friend meet them at the house to give them the keys, and needed a down payment immediately via paypal.

Fernando paid him $1000. The man said to meet his friend at the house Saturday morning. 

Of course, the man's friend was not at the house, was not going to be at the house, and the man had stolen $1000 from a hard working dad and his family.  

He was confused when Doug had explained to him that we just moved in last week. Doug wanted me to help explain. Like I could explain it any better? I'm sure he explained it fully and completely. 

"Oh no," I said, as Doug explained to me what Fernando had told him (that's who Doug was talking to while Bear was running all over the neighborhood). "I am so sorry, but I think that man stole money from you. You found the place on Craigslist? This happens a lot lately, and I'm so sorry." 

"Did you get to tour the house, or come to the house and meet anyone?" I asked. 

No. They never got to see the inside but they had pictures. Doug wondered how they got pictures but I told him that it was on Zillow. And that they were watermarked with the rental agency's name. 

They explained that had previously driven by the house and that it was empty. No one was living there. That was probably between when we signed the lease and when we moved in, a couple weeks tops. 

Fuck, I hope this isn't going to be a repeat scam and people aren't going to be showing up here all the time. But more than that, Fuck. These poor people. What the actual hell. What is wrong with people that they do shit like this. I'm so angry about this. And so sad. 

I explained that we had rented through a Realtor, through a rental agent. Craigslist is full of scams, and promises that are just not true. I was so sorry, and I called our agent for some advice. Her name is Lauren. She's delightful. 

I explained what happened while Doug and Geoff talked and Fernando and his daughter talked. Lauren was distressed. "This has been happening a lot lately because people are being told they can't take a tour of the inside of the house because of Covid, so it is easy to scam people. I'm so sorry for them. This is horrible. Please call the police non-emergency number, report this and they'll start a case, they may not be able to help but they may. I'm not sure." 

We used my phone to call the county police, the person answering was very kind as I explained the situation. She said that she needed to speak to Fernando, so I explained they would need to get an interpreter on the line to help, so Fernando could fully tell his story. They asked me a bunch of questions, asked for Lauren's contact info to make sure she is legit (she totally is) and asked Fernando for the contact phone and email and paypal info of the guy they communicated with. 

After the call was over, my heart ached, my head hurt, and I felt horrible for them. 

I gave them Lauren's number, to see if she could help them find somewhere to live. They need a place by next weekend because they have to be out of their current apartment for March 1st. 

Literally there was nothing I could do other than encourage them not to give up, and to work with a rental agent instead of Craigslist. This didn't have to happen, and it shouldn't happen. Ever.

I went to bed last night thinking of them, hoping and praying for a good resolution for them. Not sure if the police will be any help, but it was worth the call, I think. 

I hope.

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