A Peninsula, California, couple searching for a safer place to live ended up losing big in an alleged rental fraud.
Hoping to leave a home with a rat problem, they pursued a three-bedroom Redwood City house, completed the usual renter steps, and even got inside using a keypad before things deteriorated.
Here's what to know
In an ABC7 News Bay Area (@abc7news) video and report, Deserea, who lives on the Peninsula with her husband and baby, said the family urgently wanted out.
After her husband spotted the home listed at $2,500 a month on Craigslist, they started communicating with someone called Kenneth. She told the station he replied quickly, had no issue with their large dog, and told them to send money to hold the home.
According to Deserea, the couple paid $4,500 using several different platforms, ABC7 reported. When one transaction hit a snag, Kenneth told her to use an ATM by a liquor store. When she got there and saw the liquor store had burned down, he instructed her to try Zelle again.
The couple went to see the property on July 25, the outlet reported. Deserea said Kenneth was able to let them in with the keypad, and text messages indicated he had sent her a link from Rently, which offers self-guided tours.
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The real property management company connected to the address, RentWise, said: "RentWise did not create or post the Craigslist listing you described, and we have no employee, agent, or vendor named Kenneth."
More background
What stood out in this case was how many normal rental checkpoints seemed to line up. ABC7's Stephanie Sierra said scams involving people posing as landlords are becoming more common, and this family had done the kinds of things renters are often told to rely on.
Deserea told the station she only realized something was wrong after noticing the same property advertised at multiple prices on other sites, then calling the number on a Zillow listing.
She said the financial hit and housing uncertainty became so severe that she and her husband considered separating to avoid homelessness, and she feared she might have to live in her car with her baby, per ABC7.
For renters already dealing with limited control over housing costs, scams like this add another layer of risk.
What can be done?
Deserea said she repeatedly contacted Wells Fargo on her own before getting outside help. Once ABC7 contacted the bank, she received $3,800 back.
The outlet added that RentWise said the fake account and related listings have been removed from several platforms. The company also said it had brought in a third-party service to search for duplicate ads.
Rently told ABC7 that people are supposed to go through security measures before receiving a tour code, including ID verification through a link sent by text. Sierra said that despite those safeguards, the scammer still appears to have bypassed the system.
Fortunately, the story ended as well as it could have.
"Then [my husband's] aunt said we were able to stay at her house, so we were able to get back on our feet," Deserea revealed to the outlet.
Where can I learn more?
Housing scams and rental disputes can quickly upend a household.
• A renter said a landlord used dirty tricks to force eviction after yard-related disputes.
• Householders were outraged after a landlord tried to make extra cash by blocking natural light.
• Residents exposed the fraud of their HOA after it allegedly lied about its services.
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