North Texas family scammed out of rental home
McKINNEY, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – With inflation causing rents and mortgages to skyrocket, North Texans are on the move for cheaper places to live.
But you'll want to hear about what happened to a McKinney family before you hand over your money to strangers.
In McKinney, an investigation is underway to help that family recover thousands of dollars lost on a fraudulent home rental agreement.
When mold started appearing inside her McKinney apartment, Breanna Davila wanted to move her family that includes a 9-month-old baby.
"So we found this listing, this house on Zillow," Davila said.
The two-story home only a few miles away was just what the family wanted.
"We moved so quickly because we were so excited this home just seemed like a perfect home for our family," she said.
Davila says she was able to set up a tour of the house through a phone call with a man claiming to be the owner who even was able to help her go online and open the vacant home's front door lock box.
"I got the code, I unlock the lock box, I I got the key, I looked at the home, I fell in love with the home, I offered to pay upfront and then he asked me to pay him via Zelle,"she continued.
A total of $4,000 was transferred and the Davila's moved in without ever meeting the owner in person.
Four days later, a representative with FirstKey Homes showed up at the house with news that left Davila devastated.
"They told me that they were the homeowners and that I was scammed," she said.
FirstKey Homes, a rental home company based in Georgia, sent CBS 11 a statement which says in part,
"...we can confirm that the alleged scammer is not an employee of or affiliated with FirstKey Homes, and we are cooperating with the criminal investigation by the police."
Sasha Shepard, regional vice president of operations
FirstKey Homes
With the scramble on rentals right now, everybody trying to get into a rental unit, that demand has caused the crooks to come back.
DFW real estate expert Cliff Freeman says fraud is a growing risk in the housing market, especially online.
He says there are red flags renters should look for which include:
- Pay Before Signing
- Never Meeting In Person
- Payment without Seeing Property
- No Background/Credit Check
"If it's not a realtor on the other end of the transaction, there's always a possibility that it could be a scam," said real estate expert Cliff Freeman.
Even though her family has been out of the house for two weeks, Davila says the scammer still has the nerve to message her asking for more money.
"We have to start all over again," she said. "He doesn't realize that he's ruining other families lives by just having his own selfish greed."
Police have a name and a photo of the suspect to help with their investigation.
But until there's an arrest, anyone trying to rent a house through online listings in DFW could be at risk.
The Davila's are back in an apartment down a total of $7,000 in costs and losses.
