My For Sale Listing is being advertised for RENT BY SOMEONE ELSE!
We all get the occasional phone call asking if our sellers are interested in renting their home. I had two such calls in a row today. The calls were one right after the other.
I asked the second caller where she had seen the property advertised for rent. She said it was on Trulia listed for rent. Now my listing is on Trulia but as for sale by BROKER. I quickly looked it up and sure enough there it was under for rent. It showed up as newly listed. There is a disconnected local phone number with the “listing” and an agent
I scrolled to the bottom to see that it was syndicating from Postlets.com. I had used Postlets.com prior to the Zillow take over when it was an independent pay website. Once Zillow took over, I had deleted all my listings.
The second lady I talked to said she had been in communication with my seller. I asked who she had been in contact with thinking it couldn't have been my seller. The home is currently rented but it was an unusual circumstance and we never advertised for rent anywhere.
She proceeded to tell me all about the wonderful family in Mesa, AZ. This is the email that was sent:
"We are pleased that you have an interest in our house, Our lovely home is still available for lease and we want responsible adults/family who are neat and also believe that they have what it takes to take care of our house as if it were theirs. My wife and I initially had it up for sale but had a change of mind in leasing it out ourselves because the agent that was in charge of our rental property was asking too much of an agent fee and also making it difficult for people who cannot afford the rent, stay away from renting my house.
The reason why our house is up for lease is because I got transferred from my place of work to MESA,ARIZONA , I will be away with my family for at least 4 to 5 years because of the love I have for them, I have decided not to sell our house and also assuring them that we only have few years to spend here and will be willing to lease it out to person/family who is willing to assure us of taking absolute care of our home and pay their rent on time. I will start by telling you more in regards me and my family. I have a daughter named Kate (20yrs) who attends University of MESA,ARIZONA as a medical student, she has a lot going for her and she is also down to earth in all that she does to keep us happy and when she is back home on vacation, she also assist her mom in the house work when am at work. I work as a Robotic Programmer & Welder/Fitter here in MESA,ARIZONA and got married to a lovely wife who is a member of Joyce Meyer Ministries . We will be very pleased if we can find the right tenant to rent our home, a person who is a clean freak and does not tolerate anything that has to do with dirt... we also would like to know more about you and your family, your renting experience and how long and when you plan moving into our home. These 3 bedrooms and 2 bath full home are very specious and neat.
Below is the rental property information's:
House Address : XXXXXX
Monthly Fee ; $600
Security Deposit: $600
Pets Allowed: YES
Available :Available Now for move in.
So pls get back to me today.
I await your reply ASAP.
The rental fee is inclusive with utilities and my home available as at this moment"
I immediately informed my mls. Called my sellers to alert them and so they could alert their tenant. Tomorrow will be spent calling the Attorney General's office, Zillow, Trulia, federal Internet Crime Complaint Center and goodness knows where else to see what can be done to trace this email or how to proceed with a complaint.
MOST IMPORTANTLY!!! The public needs to be aware that such scams are going on. Notice the poor grammar in the above email. Please do not send money anywhere without viewing a property in person with the landlord or property management company. Never wire funds through a wire service or give out any financial information.
Funny thing is that right under the pictures on Trulia is a disclaimer:
Comments(57)