Thank you BP members and employees, this website, forum and multiple products I've all found very well laid out, professional and seems to truly have the best interest of total strangers at its heart.

If you PM me with your phone number I will call you and let you know what we are doing about this, how you could help, and how you might be able to recover your money.Rest assured we are taking this very seriously, but since it is ongoing, I will not disclose anything else publicly.In spite of the slick reassurances, the best thing anyone can do to avoid being scammed is to NEVER send personal information or up-front money to strangers for any reason.

You need a track record before strangers will trust you enough with their capital.

@Daniel ReyesI like how you said, "I've never met a stranger." 

A dog could lead to a conflict with other roommates and you could end up with other roommates leaving.If this is a stranger with an ESA I would keep accepting applications and find a more qualified applicant.

Frankly, and he admits this himself, he does not enjoy the level of business interaction with "strangers" that REI requires.

They are quite rare unless you know the investor ahead of time (close friend or family member)  Most people don't trust strangers with large amounts of money/ assets

AND we told them it was okay to keep their cat, even though we were only allowing dogs (cat allergies), so I feel like this is pushing it.If we take chances with a stranger, there is no guarantee that they won't just smoke away from the unit and we won't know if they'll take care of the unit as well as our friends.I say no; husband doesn't care, but will back up whatever I decide.

And why are you asking a bunch of strangers on the internet that don't know your state laws.How did I find the answer?

We can get a great home and have someone else pay off a large chunk of our mortgage.On the other hand, my husband thinks "I'm not going to have strangers live in my house with my wife and children."