Posted on 07/14/2017 6:52:17 AM PDT by dennisw
When we lived in Seattle we answered one of those ads on CL. It was pretty obvious what was going on, though...
CL is all about face to face. Without that, I don’t go near anything.
In many countries a property owner must keep someone in residence in a property to prevent squatters from moving in and staying. It is a risk here as well.
From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.
“Everman called the police, but they were unable to help since it didn’t count as breaking and entering”
Because they had a key? Because they stayed? What is the difference?
It would be crazy if this is a new Nigerian scam. This could be done from Nigeria as long as you have a US bank account for the victim to wire/send the money to.
Sounds like a less a ethical person could make short work of the squatters under the castle doctrine, IE (I just walked into my home saw somebody in it, assumed it was an intruder and opened fire). Of course in this case it sounds like the squatters might have been victims as well, scammed into what that thought was a Craigslist deal. But still they forced the homeowner to drag out their eviction, so my sympathy only goes so far.
I am just flabbergasted someone actually thinks they can buy a home like this and it be a valid transaction.
We left seattle six years ago for KY. A year before, we were looking at renting until we left town and found out there was a LOT of this going around. We found several cases where the scammers found ads for condos for sale. They would post pictures on their CL “for rent” ad directly from the for sale ads run by the real estate companies. It was comical.
The idea is they get your “first and last months rent” and you may never even get so much as a key. The “hook” is that the place may be worth $2,000 a month in rent but because they are “out of the country for a year or so” or some other excuse, they really just want somebody to live there for security purposes. You know, sort of a long term house sitter thing. :)
But if you can’t meet them in person, the deal needs to die right there. This goes for out of state cars for sale, etc., as well. I’ve seen my share of that here in KY.
One scammer was offering a practically new tractor here for $2.500 and some of the locals were on to him. They were posting responses to the ad like, “SCAMMER! The tires are worth more than that!” and other such stuff.
I’ve noticed that the sweet spot seems to be getting between $2,000 and $5,000 out of the sucker.
I’ve been looking at homes in my area to help a sister re-locate. I drove by one just to see if it was worth making an appointment to see. While sitting out front the owner came out. He’d apparently had people coming by to see it as a rental due to some Craigslist scam. Just like this story, only happily the place was still occupied.
These kinds of scammers should just be put to death. What useless human beings!
I’ve lived in foreign countries, and squatting and removing of illegal or in arrears residents is something which is a signpost for developed and 3rd world countries.
In many countries, if you have squatters or tenants to evict, there is no legal resolution, because the law is too socialist, complicated, or the police too corrupt, or unconcerned with things of a non-political nature. So if you can’t use moral suasion, or outright bribery to get people out, then you hire a bunch of thugs to go in and threaten them.
That’s where I see the USA heading.
Now this story (its the same exact story, some of the sentences are identical) mentions keys. Those are easy enough to get - if the realtor has a key box on the house, breaking that open gets the keys.
Anyway, I don't believe for a second that anyone was 'tricked' into renting this home. It was a squatting scam all along.
They were scammed by a crook on Craigslist.
But they are probably not the sharpest tools in the tool box.
The squatters thought they were legitimately renting the home.
If you have friends over to a party and some of them bring friends, and one acts up and you ask them to leave and they don’t, you can call the cops and say there’s a guest refusing to leave. Constitutes trespassing.
Something missing in story.
Because they thought, although incorrectly, they had a right to be there. Breaking and entering requires criminal intent, in other words, knowledge that you don't have a right to be there. Once they remained after they learned they weren't entitled to be there they were guilty of criminal trespass.
In places were there are a lot of foreclosures, a good scammer can collect several months rent before he has to bail. It's a scam that is growing more common.
It’s a scam that is growing more common.
:-)
As URBAN AREAS, Cities, i.e. GHETTOS increasingly become uninhabitable because of DEMOCRAT policies ensuring failing schools, rampant violence, out of control drug trafficking, stymied and unappreciated law enforcement, LOOK for this story to become more common place. Make no mistake, the anger and resentment sowed by the liberals is encouraging hatred of the “rich, white, suburban areas”.
Yup. Look at the pictures on the link. The owner is a “White Privileged” Caucasian and the squatter, named Tamara, is black.
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