The same thing happened to us, with a house rental listed on Zillow at a very low price:
Joan Capobianco -
[email protected] -
Postlets
Call: (401) 601-2067
What I think he does is take information from real house rental, copies and pastes the information on official rent pages, offers a very low rent, and asks for upfront payment of security deposit and several months of rent.
The message we received was:
"Hi,
I did get your response concerning the AD I posted on Postlets.The house is still available but presently I'm not around.. I did bid for a portion of petroleum land sometimes ago in West Africa and fortunately I won the bidding so I have to move quickly down to Africa to have my company set up because I will still have to rebid for it in the next 10 years. I came over here with my wife, we both owned the house when we got married. As soon as we settled down here I had a thought of selling the house so I have to look for an agent, after getting one, we got a deal but later my wife advised against that. She said we may not be able to win the bidding next time, in other to keep our head when we return that we have to keep the house. I reasoned with her and accepted her advise. So I contacted the agent back and requested for my keys and documents. Later we decided to have the house rent out because of maintenance, we would have give the same agent this
job also but the truth of the matter is that the agent would want to handle it professionally and the occupant may not be able to reason along with me later if I let him or her know that I'm letting it out because of maintenance.. If you notice, you will discovered that the price we are offering is far below standard price, this is enough for you to know that we are not after the rental fee but the maintenance.. I know there is no way I can be sure that you are the right person to live in the house because we won't be able to see physical before sending you the keys and the documents to occupy the space. But I just had a feeling that anyone who knows what it takes to put the kind of structure down should know that maintaining a building is mandatory, so if you belief you can take good care of the house and handle it like yours then I will be more than happy to let you rent the house.
This exquisite home has been completely renovated w/shady front sit on porch, new carpet and appliances equip sunny eat in kitchen w/second kitchen in basement, convenient main level master bedroom, tastefully finished basement, convenient main level master bedroom, tastefully finished basement could be used as in law apartment w/private entrance. Long and short term lease
First Month Rent:$800
Refundable Security Deposit Payment:$600
Please if you are ready now to occupy the house and believe you can assist us in maintaining the house, kindly provide the information below for record purpose..
PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF
RENT QUESTIONNAIRE
1)Your Full Name______________________________
2)Your Full Address & Phone Number______________________________
3)Marital Status?___________________________________________
4)How many people will be living in the house_________________________
5)Do you have a pet______________________________
6)Do you have a car______________________________
7)Occupation______________________________
8)When will you like to move in?_____________________________
9)How long are you willing to stay in the property________________
10)When are you ready to Move In?________________
11) How many months rent can you pay upfront? Minimum ( 1month +
SECURITY DEPOSIT ) or ( 2 months + SECURITY DEPOSIT ), so which option
do you prefer ??? ________________
12)Earliest possible date of deposit?_____________
House Address
3930 Alabama Ave SE, Washington, DC 20020
Best Regards
Joan Capobianco"