Description

An add for a rental property was put up on craigslist claiming that a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom condominium was available in San Luis Obispo for $1,600 a month. There was photos of the inside and outside of the home. However, when contacted the "owner" stated that the address was 850 Pismo Street. This did not match up with the address on Google Maps of the home that the photos showed. When the "owner" was contacted they wrote up a contract and had me fill it out with my address and length of stay. They signed it and put their contact information at the bottom of the contract. I had paid a deposit and first months rent through Venmo. They assured me that my reservation was secure until I could move in about 6 months later. A month went by and they requested that I pay and additional 2 months up front in order to keep the home reserved. I planned to rent this property for 5 months. A few more months go by and the "owner" contacts me asking for an additional month of rent up front, for a total of 4 months up front. I decline to pay them more money and they insist on asking me for money so that there are no issues on my move in day. This whole time we are communicating they are also speaking very broken english through text message. I also have not talked to them on the phone yet. After they continuously asked me for money I tried to call the phone number that they put on the contract. The number was out of service. I then tried to call a number that they had been texting me from, and this number was also out of service. Lastly I tried to call the number that they had been recently texting me from and somebody answered, but immediately hung up without saying anything. I tried to call over and over again and they would not answer. They then sent me a Venmo profile to send additional money to. They claimed this was their daughter's Venmo, but it was a male's name. The "owner" still agreed to meet up on the move in day so I went to the 850 Pismo Street property at the meeting time. They did not show up, they did not answer my phone calls or text messages, and the properties that they were advertising both were occupied. Attached is a copy of the rental agreement contract that they created and sent to me.