This person is a scam! He called me after we spoke about a place that was for sale where I live. I was communication only by email and asked him to call because I didn't feel comfortable. So he did. I couldn't understand him and he said he just moved to CA and wanted to someone to rent his home who was a "neat freak" and would take care of it while he and his "LOVELY" wife were away in CA. When he called he had the TX number and so I asked him why a TX number when calling from CA and I am in AL! Crazy.. Always to good to be true.. *sigh*

Same story but he was going by "Tim B Miller" and using the email "millertimeb@yahoo.com". His "wife" is now "Brenda C Parish". He also wanted the money sent via Money Gram. When I said I didn't feel comfortable doing that, and I would rather deposit the money directly to their bank account, he informed me that I was "wrong". (I think he meant I was "smart".)
His broken English is apparent in his emails and over the one phone conversation we had. He said in am email that I didn't answer my phone (he never called) and then said he gave me the wrong account information. When I asked again how to pay, he got angry.
Finally, he informed me that "I am very sorry to say you're not serious in renting my house... i have found some one serious. stop wasting my time" because I would not send the money via Money Gram.

He is getting smarter! He changed his name and email to match that of the name on the house I tried to rent. As well as his "wife's" name.

We just had the same experience. He said his name is now Stephen J. Friar and lives in Fulshear, TX. He gave us the same line as the rest of you. Broken english, incomplete sentences, and he only ever replied to emails around 8pmEST. We were looking at a house that was listed for sale in Escondido, CA. He talked about renting it but it was not listed as a rental. He was way too kind and would allow us to have our rottweiler AND share the house with another family, adding up to having 10 people in the house. All very bizarre that he was ok with it. There were no details about the utilities or appliances or anything. He asked for $1500 deposit up front before sending the keys/lease/info/anything. That was when we knew there was something wrong. Thanks to Spokeo and the rest of you for exposing this jerk and saving us from such a scam.

Everything everyone is saying relates to our experiences too! Thank goodness I looked up this number before I even sent the renter application. I have had this problem with 3 other people on the renting websites. I have the worst luck

We have been talking to this person too...all the above fits with our experience. This time he is posing in Texas and the house we are looking at is in Norman. Glad we looked into things some more. He wanted us to use moneygram and we started on that process and started questioning more. Glad I found this page and we're protected minus a $30 loss in stopping a check that we sent to the address on the lease he emailed us. Who knows the random people that must live there.

He scammed me out of 1800.00. I'd like to get my hands on him.

his name was Wannebo Allen. or that is what i was led to believe. things were to good to be true. he was renting a house that was listed for sale. The house was outrageously cheap i knew something was fishy from the beginning.

I went as far to look up the public records via the public recorders office and the name of the owner of the property that I was looking at matched.  So I thought it was real too.  I got an email tonight that I have been "approved" but they want me to send them the security money and they will send me the keys and will take the house off the market.  I am so sad as I thought this was real.  The emails also had broken English which fit with the family name so wasn't too concerned about it.  Decided to put in the phone number I received on the "rental application" and it took me to this site.  I will call the real estate broker and see if she has the same number on file.  The name I was getting was Trang D Mai & Family.  These people must do their homework before posting a fake ad to get the correct information for the "real" owners and go from there.  I found the posting on HotPads, but see that is it gone now.  I'm glad I caught this scam on time.

The family name I got was Mai, from Texas.  House is in Mesa, AZ.

Kaitlyn, you will notice that when you ask specific questions about things (is pool service included? Will you be removing the furniture? etc.) the person you're talking to will NOT answer them! It's because of course they don't know anything about the property, they don't even live in the US.

The jerk I was talking to even went so far as to tell me his son in law just got deployed (Marines) and he has a new 5 month old grandbaby and to "please wire the rent and deposit money to his daughter, Albertina L Williams" in Los Angeles ... not!

These scams can be reported to the state's Attorney General. You will find that these scams are done from over seas with a US phone number "mask" and familiar email address (yahoo, gmail,.etc.)

HUGE red flag (there were a few): when the person who wants to rent the property gets very personal about his/her own life, including family, jobs, etc.
He also wanted me to send money via Western Union to his "daughter."

I just reported the scam that I almost got roped into back to the real estate agent that was listing the property for sale, easy to find just google the address.

The jerk was trying to rent to me an active sales listing. BTW, the rental listing I was looking at was listed on trulia.com. and looked oh so official. He just stole info from Zillow and made his own rental listing!
Hope some of this helps others.

I am talking to a man who was "transferred to TX for work" and is renting out his home is Glendale AZ. His initials are JDM. Definitely not from the US originally. My husband and I are about to send a deposit, sound familiar?

Do you know this guys name because I am currently talking to the "owner" (quotes b/c I'm not sure about this guy anymore) andI want to see if we have the same guy...

I'm currently talking to this guy. Do you guys have a name so I can compare? I'm talking to him through email and phone calls. Obviously this guys first language isn't English, given the grammar errors in emails and his heavy accent. I don't want to wire him money if he is a scammer...

Similar experience in Portland OR. I was curious if you took any further measures? I talked to the man today and it made me want to look into the matter and I'm glad I did. Now I'd like a head or two to roll.

This number is associated with a real estate scam. This is the contact number given to use in wiring money to the leaser. The address used is for a house that is for sale in a different state. many grammatical errors in the emails.