Florissant Housing Scam
Donation protected
On November 6, 2022,
I fell victim to a housing scam. I found a house on Zillow, and I inquired about the home from that site. The next day, I got a text from someone posing as the owner of that particular home. The “owner” allowed me and my family to access the home to do a walk through. After the walkthrough, I felt it was a great fit for my family. I felt this was our dream home to create fond memories.
I filled out an application for the home, he sent an approval letter and a receipt for my security deposit. The “owner” sent me a detailed lease and I went on to pay him the rent for the month. All of the documents were sent to my email and signed by the “owner” and myself. With my limited funds, I had the carpet cleaned and the house professionally cleaned before we moved in.
When I moved in, I couldn’t wait to fill up the fridge, and help my daughter decorate her room. The day after we moved in is when the nightmare began… I was confronted by a woman, she aggressively got out of her truck, and began yelling at me. She stated that she works for Progress Residential and that I was illegally occupying the home and that I had until Friday to get out! I did call the police to file a report, the officer that arrived agreed that this seems like a scam from the company itself and he even questioned the woman that claim to work for the company. The woman also showed me a “Notice to Surrender” document that had two different service dates on it. One date was the current date,11/15; the other date on the document was my actual move-in date, which was 11/11. I didn’t move in until 11/14 due to me having the house cleaned and carpet cleaned on 11/10 and 11/11. The only person who knew my move in date was the scammer, which is why I know this was internal.
We were devastated, to say the least. Progress Residential owns the home, and will not assist with recovering any of the funds that I lost and invested in what I thought was our home. Progress Residential’s National Security Manager stated to me, that they have a track record and history of their former and current employees creating fraudulent activity across the country. He said their employees are contacting potential renters and posing as the owner of the home they inquired about from Zillow. I called the scammer in front of the lady that confronted me, he did state that he use to work for Progress Residential. The company has yet to do anything about this possibly being internal fraud.
This has been a nightmare….especially during the holiday season. I never thought as a single mother, I would be in a situation like this with my two, young children. I had to take an unpaid leave from work to process this setback to mentally and physically prepare myself to push forward. This has caused me an unbelievable amount of stress. To go through something like this with a baby and a 7 year old has been traumatizing. God is the head of our life, I know he will see us through all of this.
PSA… Progress Residential is a scam company, please avoid that company at all cost! I would hate for anyone else to go through anything like this.
I fell victim to a housing scam. I found a house on Zillow, and I inquired about the home from that site. The next day, I got a text from someone posing as the owner of that particular home. The “owner” allowed me and my family to access the home to do a walk through. After the walkthrough, I felt it was a great fit for my family. I felt this was our dream home to create fond memories.
I filled out an application for the home, he sent an approval letter and a receipt for my security deposit. The “owner” sent me a detailed lease and I went on to pay him the rent for the month. All of the documents were sent to my email and signed by the “owner” and myself. With my limited funds, I had the carpet cleaned and the house professionally cleaned before we moved in.
When I moved in, I couldn’t wait to fill up the fridge, and help my daughter decorate her room. The day after we moved in is when the nightmare began… I was confronted by a woman, she aggressively got out of her truck, and began yelling at me. She stated that she works for Progress Residential and that I was illegally occupying the home and that I had until Friday to get out! I did call the police to file a report, the officer that arrived agreed that this seems like a scam from the company itself and he even questioned the woman that claim to work for the company. The woman also showed me a “Notice to Surrender” document that had two different service dates on it. One date was the current date,11/15; the other date on the document was my actual move-in date, which was 11/11. I didn’t move in until 11/14 due to me having the house cleaned and carpet cleaned on 11/10 and 11/11. The only person who knew my move in date was the scammer, which is why I know this was internal.
We were devastated, to say the least. Progress Residential owns the home, and will not assist with recovering any of the funds that I lost and invested in what I thought was our home. Progress Residential’s National Security Manager stated to me, that they have a track record and history of their former and current employees creating fraudulent activity across the country. He said their employees are contacting potential renters and posing as the owner of the home they inquired about from Zillow. I called the scammer in front of the lady that confronted me, he did state that he use to work for Progress Residential. The company has yet to do anything about this possibly being internal fraud.
This has been a nightmare….especially during the holiday season. I never thought as a single mother, I would be in a situation like this with my two, young children. I had to take an unpaid leave from work to process this setback to mentally and physically prepare myself to push forward. This has caused me an unbelievable amount of stress. To go through something like this with a baby and a 7 year old has been traumatizing. God is the head of our life, I know he will see us through all of this.
PSA… Progress Residential is a scam company, please avoid that company at all cost! I would hate for anyone else to go through anything like this.
Organizer
Mia Daugherty
Organizer
St Louis, MO
