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Local couple warns consumers of rental scam

Will and April Thierry of Clayton, found what they thought was a great deal on Craigslist. The ad you could rent a home for $500 a month in the 1300 block of Pritz Avenue in Dayton.

"It was kind of like God is looking down on me. Maybe this is my chance," said April Thierry.

Will began texting the person who placed the ad.

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"He gave me this big story about how he was just in a car accident in Ohio. His wife died and he's now deaf because of it," said Will. The man said he wanted a deposit of $1,000 wired to him and then he would mail the keys to the house. It was a red flag for Will.

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"Everything just started going bad and I realized this was a scam," said Will.

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The true owner of the Pritz Avenue home, Dave Hendricks, said strange things started to happen after he posted a legitimate rental ad on Zillow over the Memorial Day Weekend.

"We were in shock at first because people were knocking on the doors and windows while we were inside cleaning and we weren't' expecting anybody to be there. So we didn't know if they were trying to scam us," said Hendricks.

After talking to the potential renters, the homeowner realized that someone had posted a fake ad on Craigslist, using the pictures and wording from his real Zillow ad, but reducing the rent by $275 and including free utilities.

"It's kind of like the old adage, if it's too good to be true it most likely is," said Hendricks, "It's not very realistic that that would be something a legitimate property management company or individual owner like myself would be willing to do."

There are six reports of rental scams in the Miami Valley and over 40 across the state already this year, according to the Ohio Attorney Generals office. Victims have reported losing between $250 and $5000. One victim from the Miami Valley reported losing $1300, but that person not return our phone calls.

"They don't want anybody to know. They just want it to go away," said Sham Reddy, of the Greater Dayton Real Estate Investors Board. Before you rent a home you should always do some detective work, said Reddy. Find out who the real owner is through your county auditor's website or a title agency. Reddy also recommends meeting the landlord face-to face and never wiring any money.

"It's a numbers game. They get so many people online on the hook and if one or two fall for it, their job is done that day," said Reddy.

Dave Hendrick's said he learned something, too.

"I might have made a mistake by saying it was available to rent right away because then they know the house is empty," said Hendricks.

Thierry is glad that he didn't fall for the scam and he wanted to warn others.

"He wasn't going to get any money from me, but I was going to expose him so he didn't do this to a single mom with kids or an older couple, or just somebody off the street that was down on their luck," said Thierry.

Craigslist did not return requests for comment, but their website clearly states that you can avoid scams by dealing locally, face-to-face, and by not wiring any funds.

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