Looked like a really nice place and when we drove there it was vacant plus the first email we got seemed legit. Honestly grateful for the poor English of the second email, although the whole “give me 2500 bucks before I mail you the key” thing was also a giveaway.
Email 1
Hello,
I received your inquiry about my property for rent at 3115 Grandview Dr W, University Place, WA 98466. Thanks for your interest, I sincerely apologize for the last response. My name is David Knox, I would have loved to show you myself but I already left for California where I live now. The house viewing sessions were concluded on Sunday and I had to leave due to work and family emergencies, My wife is down with a severe leukaemia but you are free to drive by to look around and get back to me if satisfied and Kindly tell me how you could take care of my house or perhaps the experience you have in renting a house. Then I can get the house secured for you if you are seriously interested and also I can set up an application form here. The rent is $1400 and the security deposit is $1100 (deposit covers all damages, refundable) total move-in cost is $2500. It is available for move-in and all the utilities are included in the monthly rent except Internet and cable, as I am in a governmental program that sponsors my utilities on a monthly basis. Pets are also allowed as long as they are not destructive, The house is in great condition. We are looking for the right set of people that would take good care of it. I hope we’ll be able to work something out.
Thanks
3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom 1,500 sqft
Lease: 4 yrs/2 yrs/1 yr/6 months/month-month
Application fee ($30)
Pets: pets allowed. Cats, Dogs ($170 pet deposit, NOT per pet)
Major appliances included:
Dishwasher, Range/Oven, Cooling/Heating, Washer/Dryer, Sewage/Garbage, Refrigerator, Microwave.
Sincerely,
David Knox
———————————–
Senior Technical Engineer
Email 2
Hello again,
Thank you, I’m so sorry for every inconvenience this may cause you as I’m not available to walk you through the home and also handle business locally. Well, we used to have realty professionals working with us but due to a few reasons that they charge more than stipulated price and never took proper care of the property, we stopped working with them. So, we were advised to rent it out to people and we hope that wouldn’t fail & also to build a landlord-tenant relationship. I can have the home secured for you if you’re willing to rent prior to seeing the inside. If the application is approved and everything is great to go, we’ll prepare the proper documentation & contracts done and forward it to you. Then, I’ll be receiving the payment into the bank account by cashiers check, secured money order or electronically transfer to have both sides secured. I’ll then mail the keys to your current address and provide you with tracking information.
Attached below is the application and questionnaire, have it filled and attached back at the earliest convenience after you viewed the home and interested in moving forward. And please feel free to text me on my cell (424) 210-7446 (Text preferably). First-month rent and the deposit are required, it is available for move-in & pets are allowed. Doesn’t accept housing programs.
General house description:
Bedrooms: 3
Bathroom: 1
Size: 1,500 sqft
Below are some questions I need you to answer so we can discuss it further. You can only drive by the property for now to check the outside and the neighbourhood, it is available for a long lease. Get back to me for further discussion on how to get the keys and paperwork of the property to you if I find you suitable and decide to rent the property to you…
RENT QUESTIONNAIRE
Name (First name/ Middle name/Surname ) : __________?
Phone numbers (home,cell and office line ) # :__________?
Marital Status:__________?
How many proposed occupants :__________?
List all in addition to yourself including approx age :__________?
Present Address :__________?
Will you have pets :__________?
Please describe Breed, size :__________?
Personality of pet :__________?
Reasons for leaving :___________ ?
When do you plan to move in, please write the exact date?
Intended length of lease:__________?
Any criminal charges or evictions?
What are you paying now?
Length of previous tenancy :__________?
Present occupation :__________?
Are you a section 8 applicant
Do you work late at night :__________?
Do you smoke :__________?
Do you drink :__________?
PLEASE TEXT or EMAIL REPLY with the following:
I ___________________, Certify that answers given herein are true and complete to the best of my knowledge. I authorize investigation of all statements contained in this application for tenant screening as may be necessary in arriving at a tenant decision. I understand that the landlord may terminate any rental agreement entered into for any misrepresentation made above.
Looking forward to hearing from you with all these details so that I can have it in my file in case of issuing the receipt and contacting you. Await your reply
Received the same emails word for word, price and house type/address changed, but everything else is exactly word for word. From a “Leslie Nichols”. I thought it was a little suspect, but we actually drove by the house and it was legit? It was the same one in pictures, and it was definitely an empty vacant home. Doors were locked but I did peak into the windows. It was beautiful, so sad it is too good to be true.
Victim Location 98275
Type of a scam Rental
On Dec 11, 2019, at 10:34 AM, Scotty McDonell wrote:
?
Hello,
I received your inquiry about my property for rent at 1416 119th Pl SE, Everett, WA 98208. Thanks for your interest, I sincerely apologize for the last response my name is Scotty McDonell, I would have loved to show to you myself but I already left for California where I live now. The house viewing sessions was concluded on Sunday and I had to leave due to work and family emergencies, My wife is down with a severe leukemia but you are free to drive by to look around and get back to me if satisfied and Kindly tell me how you could take care of my house or perhaps the experience you have in renting house. Then I can get the house secured for you if you are seriously interested and also I can set up an application from here. The rent is $850 and security deposit is $800 (deposit covers all damages, refundable) total move-in cost is $1650. It is available for move in and all the utilities are included in the monthly rent except Internet and cable, as i am in a governmental programme that sponsors my utilities on monthly basis. Pets are also allowed as long as they are not destructive, The house is in great condition we are looking for the right set of people that would take good care of it. I hope we’ll be able to work something out.
Thanks
2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom 600 sqft
Lease: 4yrs/2yrs/1yr/6 months/month-month
Application fee ($20)
Pets: pets allowed. Cats, Dogs ($100 pet deposit, NOT per pet)
Major appliances included:
Dishwasher, Range/Oven, Cooling/Heating, Washer/Dryer, Sewage/Garbage, Refrigerator, Microwave.
Sincerely,
Scotty McDonell
From: Scotty McDonell
Date: December 15, 2019 at 8:52:23 AM PST
To:
Subject: Re: Silver Lake Home for Rent
?
Hello again,
Thank you, I’m so sorry for every inconveniences this may cause you as i’m not available to walk you through the home and also handle business locally. Well, we used to have realty professionals working with us but due to few reasons that they charge more than stipulated price and never took proper care of the property, we stopped working with them. So, we were advised to rent it out to people and we hope that wouldn’t fail & also to build landlord-tenant relationship. I can have the home secured for you if you’re willing to rent prior seeing the inside. If the application is approved and everything is great to go, we’ll prepare the proper documentation & contracts done and forwarded to you. Then, I’ll be receiving the payment into the bank account by cashiers check or secured money order to have both sides secured. I’ll then mail the keys to your current address and provide you tracking information.
From: Scotty McDonell Date: December 16, 2019 at 9:09:38 PM PST
To:
Subject: Application process
?
Attached below is the application and questionnaire, have it filled and attached back at the earliest convenience after you viewed the home and interested in moving forward. And please feel free to text me on my cell ?(424) 210-7446?? (Text preferably). First month rent and the deposit are required, it available for move in & pets are allowed. Doesn’t accept housing programs.
General house description:
Bedrooms: 2
Bathroom: 1
Size: 600 sqft
Below are some questions I need you to answer so we can discuss further. You can only drive by the property for now to check the outside and the neighborhood, it is available for a long lease. Get back to me for further discussion on how to get the keys and paperwork of the property to you if I find you suitable and decide to rent the property to you..
RENT QUESTIONNAIRE
Name (First name/ Middle name/Surname ) : __________?
Phone numbers (home,cell and office line ) # :__________?
Marital Status:__________?
How many proposed occupants :__________?
List all in addition to yourself including approx age :__________?
Present Address :__________?
Will you have pets :__________?
Please describe Breed, size :__________?
Personality of pet :__________?
Reasons for leaving :___________ ?
When do you plan to move in, please write exact date?
Intended length of lease:__________?
Any criminal charges or evictions?
What are you paying now?
Length of previous tenancy :__________?
Present occupation :__________?
Are you a section 8 applicant
Do you work late night :__________?
Do you smoke :__________?
Do you drink :__________?
PLEASE TEXT or EMAIL REPLY with the following:
I ___________________, Certify that answers given herein are true and complete to the best of my knowledge. I authorize investigation of all statements contained in this application for tenant screening as may be necessary in arriving at a tenant decision. I understand that the landlord may terminate any rental agreement entered into for any misrepresentation made above.
Looking forward to hearing from you with all these details so that I can have it in my file in case of issuing the receipt and contacting you. Await your reply