No, this is something you couldn't make up. But this is America, and at the end of someone's sorry road is a pot of gold for someone else.We digress, so put yourself in this picture. You're looking for a house to rent. Perhaps you outgrew your apartment, or you want a better environment for your kids, or perhaps you were one of the unlucky ones who had your home taken from you because the bank, God bless it, loaned you a whack of money you didn't need at an interest rate you couldn't afford, to fund a mortgage you couldn't carry against a home that couldn't hold its value in a market rife with foreclosures.
You need a place. And so you beat the bushes, and lo and behold you find a lovely house in a fine neighborhood—and the rent is—what is it you said, "too good to be true?"
You went to see the place. Owner seemed nice, he smiled as you signed the lease and gave you the key as he strolled away with your first and last month's rent in his pocket.
Yes, too good to be true. That's when you find out it is, when someone shows up from the bank asking "who took down the For Sale sign?" and "by the way, WHO are YOU?"
You've just been scammed by the latest scam making the rounds, taking advantage of other people's misery.
Admittedly, there are a lot of houses on the market. Most are foreclosed, with For Sale signs on the front lawn. People aren't buying, there are no open houses, so the place just sits.
Enter some guy in a suit. Looks like he could be the guy from the bank, or from the real estate. He takes down the sign, and has a locksmith come over to change the locks. Over the next few days the neighbors notice a family looking around. It all seems so normal, and yet it is anything but. The scammer just helps himself, with the aid of a non-licensed locksmith making some nice coin under the table.
Pity the poor family scammed into handing their hard-earned money to a thief, only to discover they are in the home illegally and will just as quickly have to vacate the premises without anything to show for their investment.
The thief will likely never be caught, 'tis true. But who is at fault, here? Would you not think that the owner of a property should be responsible for that property? Indeed, when a bank forecloses on a home and puts out a For Sale sign, or posts a notice of foreclosure, the bank is serving notice that it is now the defacto owner of the property. As any homeowner will tell you, with ownership comes responsibility. You don't just come by every couple of weeks to cut the grass. Most people who leave their home for vacation for a week or two will arrange to have someone check up on the place.
Obviously, if a scammer was able to swoop in, have the locks changed, entertain prospective renters and arrange for them to move in under the bank's very nose, who isn't paying attention here?
The scammer has done the deed. But the bank or lending institution now holding legal title on the home has contributed to the crime, by not having someone around checking up on it.
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But they didn't know, because they weren't doing their due diligence. And because they weren't, a figurative door is left wide open for a would-be scammer to pull the wool over the eyes of an unsuspecting family.
Scammed by a real estate scam? Go after the owner, not the scammer. You'll never find the scammer, and you likely will never see your scammed money. But you could see the bank in court.
Once you move into your next new place, the first call you make should be to a good lawyer.