All Forum Posts by: Lola C.

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say thank you for all of your input and support. This is such a wonderful community!

I only received 2 more emails from "Rob" after the one I posted in the comments. They were full of more rambling, swearing, and insults towards me. I didn't reply to any of them. This man has my personal information and I think it's best not to taunt an angry lion.

To be clear--the property was renting for $2,500/month. He wanted a $7,500 deposit plus extra for my dog, so the total would have been around $8,000. Which is a lot of money, but according to him, it's "pocket change" and he "couldn't care less" about my "measly $8,000."

I'm going to sign up for a credit monitoring service today just to be safe. I've seen peoples' lives temporarily ruined by identity theft and do not want to fall victim to this man.

As to the tenant who showed me the house, he was not "Rob." I have spent some time Googling Rob and have seen dozens of photos of him. He is in his 50s and looks very sleazy. His wife looks about 15. All of their Facebook photos are public and are of the two of them gallivanting about the Bahamas and Paris. Something about the look of them REALLY rubs me the wrong way. Not the age difference, but just the two of them look like couples you see on the 10 o'clock news. The tenant in the house was a guy about my age, late 20s, with a 1 year old baby. He seemed fairly normal. I Googled the home's address and had hits for our local papers' recent Yard Sale sections; the photos showed the belongings in the house. So I do think these tenants indeed have been renting the property and are indeed moving out and trying to sell some of their stuff before they go.

Lastly, Westside Rentals is a rental service here in L.A. They charge a fee for landlords to list their properties, and a fee for tenants to look at "exclusive" rentals that can't be found on other sites. They are not necessarily high end. They used to be more popular (10 years ago?), but it seems they don't provide any real support to their customers any more, so I see why they're losing customers. My situation is the perfect example of how little they care. Back when they started, they handled all of the applications, leases, and money exchanges to protect both parties. They no longer do this apparently.

Anyway thanks again everyone!

Ugh, now he is repeatedly emailing me. Every 5 minutes or so. Just saying all sorts of inane things.

I contacted Westside Rentals and they said they want nothing to do with this. I guess it's stupid of me, but I thought they provided some sort of renter's protection from this kind of thing. Wrong!

I'm not sure how to safely rent property in this town. I suppose it will have to be through a major company. This has totally put me off my house search.

To pay for the credit check. That is standard here as far as I know; I've had to pay around $30 for every place I've rented.

This guy is nuts... should I be concerned that he has my social security #, personal info, etc. from my credit check?? He also has my credit card # but I already called my bank and they are totally aware of the situation and I have zero liability for fraud or theft.

It is currently 2 AM his time (supposedly, if he does in fact live where he says he does) and he just sent me this email. I typed a very polite response to his last rant saying I was sorry for "wasting his time" as he put it, and that I was not comfortable with the arrangement and I wish him luck on finding a tenant soon. I did mention that Katy herself had told me she was NOT a licensed real estate agent, which I had previously thought to be the case. I didn't make a big deal of it, just thought his original ad was misleading.

Anyway, here's more entertainment for the night:

"katy is the most professional manager you will ever meet, you are completely wrong, she manages over $6 million dollars in property in the United States alone not including the international holdings (Jamaica, Belize, Bahamas). we run over 10 million dollars, way over your little dreams of a little scam bout across the country. laughable….

so gwan screwup your thing, were laughing at you now, katy is a licensed California Realtor, investor and everything your afraid of. all you did was lose the house."

Okay, one last update. Rob just emailed me a scathing and lengthy message about how I'm a "pain in the a**" for wasting his time as he's been spending "hours" typing up a lease for me to sign. He went on and on about how he has been renting homes for 25 years and owns dozens of properties, etc. etc. and how dare I ask if he is trying to scam me.

I should note I never said anything like that, just that I was uncomfortable sending that amount of money without ever having met the owner or property manager.

He also said he has had multiple offers on the rental today and if I don't take it, someone else will. He is still offering me the house and awaiting my reply.

Lol he obviously has a way with people. I think I will just be scratching this house off my list and monitoring my credit card carefully for fraudulent activity. Even if this is all legitimate, I don't think we are starting off well and I don't want to have a poor relationship with my landlord.

Dawn, I have not seen the lease yet. Just a few hours ago did the owner tell me he approved my application. He said he'd be sending the lease tonight or tomorrow. I would obviously read it carefully before signing. 

There are just stories on the news here all the time of people paying thousands, signing leases, and getting keys to properties which either are not for rent or have been rented to multiple parties simultaneously. And they do not end up getting their money back. It scares me to think of this happening to me and I don't even want to have to deal with taking someone to court. 

Okay, I just spoke with Katy. I told her my concerns about sending a check for that much across the country. She now says she will meet me at the rental property and I can give her a cashier's check and she will mail it to Rob. I'm not sure how that makes things any better.

She said she is not a real estate agent, but she used to be. I told her I was having a hard time with this whole setup and that I am still not comfortable handing over that much money up front without going through a management company or agent or whatever. She said that isn't necessary, and lots of owners do it this way to cut out costs and middle men, etc. I told her I understand that, but my current landlord (owner of the house) was here to show me the house, sign paperwork, and hand me the keys as soon as I handed over a check.

I told her I will call her back tomorrow and just hung up the phone.

So where I am still confused is this: If you are renting a property that doesn't have a move-in date until a month later, how is the tenant ever assured that they won't be ripped off by handing over the deposit in the meantime??

Wow, thanks for all the quick replies! Sounds like I am rightfully concerned.

The assessor's office just closed for the day so I will definitely call tomorrow. I found the property on their website, but they don't give out the owner's name without a phone call.

I don't know Katy's last name, so I can't look her up either, but I will call her and ask tomorrow as well. Or really maybe just ask for more clarification about all of this.

Michelle L., I pm'd you. Thanks!

Dawn, I agree with you. Either very lazy or a scam. I should note that my current landlord of almost 6 years does things like that all the time, and is a 9/10 on the lazy meter, so maybe I have skewed expectations. She was, however, here to show me the house and sign paperwork.

I've been searching for a rental home for a while now. Finally found one that fit all the criteria via Westside Rentals (I'm in SoCal). There were 2 numbers listed as contacts, for "Rob" or "Katy." Rob did not answer; Katy did. She set up for me to go look at the house, as the owner (Rob) lives in Florida.

I went to look at the house and was greeted by one of the current tenants (his wife was at work, baby was at home). He took me on a tour and seemed very friendly. They are obviously in the process of moving but there is still plenty of stuff everywhere--the kitchen, bathroom, garage, and outdoors are obviously lived-in and full of baby stuff but the bedrooms and living room looked scarce.

He answered all of my questions, explained that Rob lives in Florida but Katy lives here and is the property manager. He says she calls occasionally to make sure everything is okay but otherwise does not come by. He said his wife has taken a job out of state so they are moving, but it's a great house, etc.

I talk to Katy later, tell her I loved the house, and she asks for my email address to have Rob send me the rental application. He emails me later that night with the standard application and credit check forms. I submit with my credit card # to have my credit checked. I didn't even think about how strange this was that I hadn't met the owner or the manager yet, just the tenant. Anyway, Rob has emailed me back today that my credit/application is approved. He will be sending me the lease to fill out and once I send him my check, he will remove the listing and the house is mine. Come October 1st (in one month), he will fly up here to give me keys, do the initial inspection with me, etc. once the current tenants have vacated completely and the property has been cleaned. 

Now, here's where I'm confused:

-There is still another whole month before I'm moving in. I feel weird handing over nearly $8,000 to someone who lives in Florida (via check) whom I've never met or spoken to and then sitting around for a month before I get my keys.

-Can't I just pay Rob come October 1st when we meet in person and inspect the house together? He sort of makes it sound like until he gets my security deposit, the house is still up for grabs. I have excellent credit and high income and have expressed that I am committed to this home; is that not good enough?

-Katy the property manager has not once offered to come show me the house or bring paperwork; everything has been with Rob through email. I have spoken to Katy now 4 times on the phone and she lives 5 minutes away (according to a Google search of her phone number).

Is this all sounding legitimate? I should note that the property is not priced at a bargain, nor is it a "too good to be true" scenario. My credit and income are excellent, so I am not surprised at them accepting me as a tenant either. Just concerned about this long distance setup. I have gone to look at 20+ homes in recent weeks and every one had either a realtor or the owner there to greet me.

I have also Googled Rob's full name, email address, and cell phone number. He does indeed appear to be who he claims he is, and I have seen his personal blog, Facebook account, and also several rental properties with good reviews on vacation home sites based in Florida. Katy's number comes back with 2 different women's names attached to it.

Please help--how do I go forward from here? I don't mean to sound paranoid, but Los Angeles is fraught with rental scams. Normally I'd just move on if I had any doubt, but I kind of have my heart set on this place. THANKS!