Rental Market Ripe For Scammers
AURORA, Colo (CBS4)- Rents continue to rise in the Denver metro area. A report out this month indicates that the average rent was $1,265 a month in March 2015, that's $130 more than March of last year. As rents go up, it makes it harder to find an affordable place to live. That's what caught Ronnie Crow.
"I thought I had the best luck in the world finding this place," Crow told CBS4.
She'd found a 1-bedroom, 1-bath, fully-furnished apartment for $550 a month on Craigslist. She corresponded via email with someone calling themselves Geoffrey Barlas. She got pictures of the apartment and a request for a $500 security deposit in addition to the first month's rent.
"I kept wanting to see the complex and he says, 'Well, you can see the outside, but there's a person still living in the facility, so you can see it after March,'" Crow explained.
In the tight rental market, Ronnie was eager to lock down a lease. She sent the money via bank transfer. She was given a name, account number, and even a routing number. Receipts show the money went through.
"It just amounted to, I didn't do enough due diligence and do my research, which I should have done," Crow admitted.
When Crow tried to get a hold of Geoffrey Barlas at the end of the month, he was nowhere to be found. She called the owner of the Denver address and found that the apartment was not up for rent. She called the bank to see if she could get her money back and they couldn't help her. Then she called police and filed a report.
"We definitely want to make sure that the public knows that these scams are out there, so take precautions," said Aurora Police Officer Diana Cooley.
Cooley recommends that you should always meet face-to-face with the people from which you are renting, get a copy of the contract, and look up the address to find the actual owner of the property.
CBS4 searched public records and found no one by the name of Geoffrey Barlas in the entire country. CBS4 also searched the pictures that Ronnie received and found a couple of them on a listing for a resort in Panama City, Florida.
"That's one heck of an expensive lesson that I need to learn," Crow said.
Crow has since found a new place to live. She's getting help from friends and family and hopes that her story will serve as a reminder to everyone to do their research. She also wants Craigslist users to be on the look out for Geoffrey Barlas.
Libby Smith is a Special Projects Producer at CBS4. If you have a story you'd like to tell CBS4 about, call 303-863-TIPS (8477) or visit the News Tips section.
