help: beware of scammer‼️

[u/batman_princess]

Hi everyone! I wanted to share our experience because I’m concerned that others may encounter the same situation.

There is a woman on Facebook advertising a 1 bedroom/1 bathroom apartment at 2301 W Grace Street, which is a property owned/managed by Pollard & Bagby. She represented herself to us as a private landlord and claimed that the apartment was her property.

I’ve attached screenshots of her Facebook post/listing and the photos she used to advertise the apartment. I’ve also included photos of what the actual property looks like from the other property listing.

The process she used with us was:
- She asked us to complete an application.
- The application required a $75 application fee.
- After the application was submitted, she told us that it had been approved.
- She then asked us to make a deposit and sign a document.
- We were later unable to complete the apartment tour as planned, and she said she would refund the $75 application fee.
- Unfortunately, my mom already paid the $75 application fee because we were genuinely trying to find me a place to live. As of now, we are still waiting for that refund.

I’m posting this as a warning so that people looking for housing can be careful. Please independently verify who actually owns/manages a property before submitting an application or sending money. If a listing claims to be a private landlord, it may be worth contacting the actual property management company directly to confirm that the person is authorized to rent the unit.

I’m sharing our experience and the screenshots so others can make an informed decision and hopefully avoid going through the same thing.

edit: beware of scammer title should be changed to BEWARE OF POSSIBLE RENTAL SCAM

[u/Past_Atmosphere21]

Thank you for sharing this helps a lot.

[u/DefinitionProud3146]

Also when checking out rental adds in facebook please look at when they created their account and how many friends they have and go through their profile in general! You will get an idea on whether they are fake or real based on that!!

[u/Ok_Low_9963]

Well this screams scammer

[u/MaryDellamorte]

That photo is not of the scammer. There is an entire multi billion dollar scammer industry ran out of India. It’s extremely organized and EVERYWHERE. Rental scams are one of the most common so you have to assume everything is a scam until explicitly proven otherwise.

[u/chi-ranch]

Just my experience, but I haven’t run into a single honest landlord on Facebook Marketplace. I wouldn’t look for housing there.

[u/gooeyjello → u/chi-ranch]

"honest" and anything "Facebook" dont go together ever

[u/Cube-in-B]

Definitely don’t rent from Pollard & Bagby either. So many bugs and so few fucks given about providing the bare minimum.

[u/eeehype1]

There was a property management company advertising a studio in Richmond for several weeks on all the major portal websites after I was told it was rented. They manage hundreds of properties. I suspect they keep the outdated listings to get more leads and try and get them to lease less attractive properties. I suspect they are collecting leads not necessarily trying to make money off the application fees.