My name is Lindsey, my fiancé is Michael, and our son is Mavrick. We have a baby due in February. It’s heavy on my heart to share our story about our traumatic weekend; a weekend that was supposed to be filled with happiness. It’s a long one.
We’ve become a victim of fraud. We’ve been scammed. We’ve been used. We’ve been betrayed.
On July 27 (Sunday evening) I inquired about a home on Redfin to rent, off of Saxon. The next day around noon I get a text message: “Hello Lindsey I’m Jack, owner of the Redfin property you asked about at xxxx Azora Dr. I would love to share more information about the property. Are you available for a quick chat or call?” I informed him I was about to be on my lunch break and I’ll call in a moment. I call him as soon as I’m available and he informs me that that specific property is already spoken for but he has another property 8min down the road that we are more than welcome to look at. So, that evening after work I go look at this house with my brother. Fell in love. Huge back yard, 3bdrm, 2bth, half a mile from Mavs school, quiet neighborhood… everything we could’ve asked for.
Once I leave, we do the application, pay $150 and submit it. That night around 11:30pm I received a call that we’ve been approved! Of course to secure a hold for us it was required to make a $1,500 deposit - in which I sent. The next morning the “landlord” sent the lease agreement in which we signed then he and I were texting and confirmed we have 2 dogs. It was requested we pay $400 for the pet deposit ($200/dog) - in which I sent. Each transaction he sent a receipt for.
On August 2 we ask to go by the house to treat the lawn (there were fire ants) to let it settle before we brought the dogs. Bought insect/ant repellent bags to cover the whole back yard and a seeder. While we were there he calls me and states that he normally requests the full first months rent at the same time of the deposit but only requested we send $600 towards rent to help get some repairs done on the house. In which I sent and received a receipt for. In exchange we asked if we could, little by little, move some totes with our belongings into the garage throughout the month to make it easier come move in day (on August 30) since I’m pregnant and can’t lift anything. He agreed.
On August 8 he texts saying the maintenance guy has started some repairs (that we requested) and that he would rather we wait to move our totes into the garage until he’s finished. On August 18 he texts another update stating that the maintenance guy is finishing repairs and our washer and dryer will be delivered and then the following weekend we can move our totes in. He then requested another $600 to finalize repairs before the maintenance guy leaves. In which I sent and received a receipt for.
Fast forward to Friday. I text him stating Mike and I will be by the house around 7-7:30pm to bring some totes. He agreed that was the plan and to keep in contact with him. On my lunch break he calls me and confirms we will be able to move our stuff in that evening and said “so you don’t have to worry about paying next weekend while you guys are moving you can send the remaining $554 for rent and take your time settling in.” So I agreed that was a good plan and so I sent the money. About an hour later (around 2pm) I received a text stating the maintenance guy wants to know if we’d like to change the locks. I told him we were actually going to ask for that to be done and he said no problem, it’ll just be $200 for him to do it and it’ll be done right away.” So… I sent it.
5:15-5:550pm Friday night, Mike spends this whole time loading his SUV and my brothers pickup full of our totes (kitchen supplies, Mavs toys, books, photos, some baby items, household items we bought for move-in, holiday decor, and other stuff).
5:59pm- I text: “Hi Jack, we will be over at the house in about 20 minutes.” In which he replied: “In a tight schedule, let’s do 7pm please.” I agreed.
7pm: “Hi Jack we are pulling in now”
7:06pm: “we are here at the house”
7:14: …“?”…
When he called me on my lunch break he did say his wife and their newborn baby had to be taken to the hospital so I told Mike “while we wait for him to respond let’s just go look at the back yard and see how the fire ants are doing.” As we’re walking around the yard I catch a glimpse of something moving out of the corner of my eye, I turn so fast and see a Husky peeking through the sliding glass blinds. My heart sank. I swear everything around me went silent. WHY is there a dog inside of OUR home?!
Now I’m on my phone calling this guy back to back to back to back and he had disconnected his phone number. Mike peeked through the windows and saw a Primo water dispenser, protein powder on top of the fridge, an air fryer, dishes by the sink, a plant and sign displayed… someone’s living here. Someone is in OUR house. An hour passes, we’ve talked to all of the neighbors and they witnessed people moving in the last few days and a few times FedEx has delivered packages. Mike calls the cops.
We’ve been scammed. We paid for an application fee, a deposit, a pet deposit, first months rent, and a lock change to a home that’s already occupied by someone else. $3,994 - GONE.
Police report has been filed, fraud report filed with the FTC, Invitation Homes (cop confirmed this company owns the home and not this Jack guy claiming to be the owner), Redfin, my bank, and Apple. Every single person as been notified that we can think of. Now it’s just a waiting game.
We spent the last 6 months saving to finally have our own home before the holidays, before the baby gets here. We bought furniture and supplies for this home. Just for it all to be ripped away from us due to a sick person who took $4k of ours with NO REMORSE! After speaking to and sharing we are a growing family and this will be our first home together as a whole. Spoke nearly everyday throughout the month.
We’ve cried. We’ve yelled. We’ve been under so much stress. I personally still feel numb. Lost. But I know God has a plan for us for something better. I know it.
So with this being said, it is still our goal to move into a home before the holidays but we cannot just sit around in hopes we get back the $3,994 lost. We are so appreciative of ANY amount to try and replenish our savings.
It’s sad. It’s unfortunate. It’s traumatizing. But I know we will persevere. ❤️
(Picture is of the home we thought was ours.)