A Virginia tenant has revealed an alleged housing scam allegedly planned by a landlord, nd fueled with police involvement. The tenant was illegally evicted, and his properties were sold off without his consent. The details of the incident were shared in a Reddit post. According to the tenant, he signed a non-notarized lease to rent the upstairs of a two-story home with the upper floor having connections for home appliances. The tenant admitted to believing the agreement was legit, but it was proved otherwise.
A month into the lease, the resident woke up to a strange man in the living area of the house. Upon questioning, the stranger identified himself as the real owner of the home and revealed that the occupant was illegally subletting from the landlady.
At that point, the resident explained to the man that he believed the elderly landlady was the true owner of the house. Despite the occupant’s claims, the owner insisted that the tenant vacate the premises immediately.
However, the resident claimed they were entitled by law to a 30-day notice, having lived on the property “longer than 14 days and had plenty of mail with the address.” The issue soon escalated as the owner contacted another person, resulting in the arrival of the police.
During the occupants’ interaction with the authorities, one officer mentioned the elderly landlady had a criminal record, including fraud and identity theft. Shortly after, the leading officer informed the occupant that the owner wanted him “trespassed.”
The personnel presented a document to the resident asking him to sign; otherwise, he would be arrested on the spot. The resident confessed to signing the document because the police officer emphasized the arrest.
When the tenant inquired about his belongings, the officer advised him to go to court, but warned that if he showed up at the apartment, he would be arrested. After leaving the apartment, the tenant stumbled upon photos of his belongings for sale on the marketplace.
Five days later, he received a handwritten eviction notice from the owner, dated from the day he was trespassed. Social media users wasted no time in offering solutions to the tenant. One Redditor penned, “Again, to me, this seems like a scam the two of them run. Get someone to rent the place, take their money, have the owner come by, kick ‘illegall’ tenant out, and sell their stuff for more cash.”
The comment continued, “Chances are the owner knew the cops too, because none of what you described is normal police procedure. In my experience, most cops are just criminals with a badge.”
Another individual advised the tenant to go to court, as he had been scammed. The user wrote, “I think OP is a victim of fraud. Seems like it needs a full-on lawsuit, not just small claims court.” A second netizen added that the tenant had also sued the police, saying, “They didn’t follow the law here.”
A third netizen opined that the police were in on the scam. The netizen asked, “Is the owner a cop or related to one, because that’s the only way this extremely illegal behavior makes any sense?”
There was definitely foul play in this scenario!
