‘It felt like it was legit.’ Family left homeless after falling victim to rental scheme

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Bennecia Smith thought her family was finally getting a break, instead, they are broke without a place to call home.

They became the latest family to fall victim to a rental scheme. They paid money for a rental home, but the person they paid had no right to the house.

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Ever since her mother got sick two years ago, Smith and her seven immediate family members have often lived in a motel. They wanted to find a home. That’s when an acquaintance connected her with a woman who was willing to provide a rental property at a price they could afford.

“She even had paperwork and everything. I had a whole lease. It felt like it was legit,” Smith told Channel 2′s Michael Doudna. “I was very excited because it was my first house with my two kids,”

The family handed over $1,200 in cash, set up a payment plan, and moved in.

Nine days later, there was a knock at the front door.

“It was the police, and he was like I was trespassing. And I was like, how was I trespassing, and I was showing him the lease, and he’s like, that’s a fake lease,” Smith said.

Police were forced to remove the family of eight.

Smith told us that some of the children’s belongings were still inside the home.

“It’s horrible, all the way around,” Channel 2 Consumer Advisor Clark Howard said.

Howard said these scams first started popping up around 15 years ago.

He says scammers would find vacant properties on listing sites and pass them off as their own.

“It’s so easy today with technology to trick somebody. And that’s why you have to be your own detective. Because once it happens to you, there is no easy way out,” Howard said.

Howard said you should always do an internet search for the property and check property records to make sure the person you are paying is the person who owns the property.

He says the law puts the burden on you to make sure you are not scammed.

“Once the money has left your hands, if you’ve been conned, the money has taken a one-way trip,” Howard said.

Without the money, Bennecia and the seven other members of their family are left hoping to scrape together enough money to afford a room each night.

If they don’t, they sleep in their cars.

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Police tell Channel 2 Action News that the woman behind the scamming is alleged to have committed a similar crime in other jurisdictions.

“She is going to reap what she sow. She took from me. And also, she didn’t just take from me, but she took from my kids,” Smith said.

If you would like to help the family, they have set up a GoFundMe campaign that you can donate to here.

Also, feel free to reach out with any offers of help at michael.doudna@wsbtv.com

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