An Albuquerque man posing as a landlord to defraud tenants was apprehended after the property owner and tenant teamed up to catch the thief.
The man is accused of entering vacant rental properties, staging the property for rent, and collecting money from unsuspecting rental applicants and tenants.
According to a news report, the man would target properties that had been vacant, enter and change the locks, and then advertise the property for rent on Craigslist. In this case, he provided a lease to a property he did not own to an unsuspecting family of five.
When the real landlord stopped by to check on the house, he discovered the family living there and called police. The renters agreed to participate in a sting operation where one of them arranged to meet the fraudulent landlord at a store parking lot with police in tow.
The man was arrested after he took the rent money and provided a receipt to the tenant, according to the report.
The property owner has agreed to allow the family to stay in the home.
This post is provided by Tenant Verification Service, Inc., helping landlords reduce the risks of renting with fraud prevention tools that include Tenant Screening, Tenant Background Checks, (U.S. and Canada), as well as Criminal Background Checks, and Eviction Reports (U.S. only).
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this post in not intended to be construed as legal advice, nor should it be considered a substitute for obtaining individual legal counsel or consulting your local, state, federal or provincial tenancy laws.
