HIGH POINT, N.C. — A High Point couple is calling a hotel room home for the time being, after they paid a deposit on a rental home they never got the keys to.
Brent and Bobbie Tucker said they needed to find a new place to live. They said safety issues with their previous home and an eviction forced them out.
"We just opened up our business in September, so it’s slow with a business right now and everything going on," said Brent. The couple owns a nutrition business.
"Two of our daughters caught COVID, so then we had to shut down for a while just to make sure we didn’t have it, so that put us further behind with bills," said Brent.
Brent and Bobbie said they applied for legal aid and the HOPE grant to get help. They went online to look for a new place.
"We saw the ad on Craigslist for a house in High Point on Chilton Way. I texted the guy, the number, and someone was responding about the property. I just said that I was interested," said Bobbie.
The couple said they scheduled an appointment to see the home the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
"The person I was speaking with said that they were out of town for Thanksgiving, to let him know when we were there and he would give us the code to the lockbox," said Bobbie. "So, once we arrived, we let him know we were there and he said, 'I left the door unlocked go ahead and go in.'"
The couple said the person on the other end of the phone told them because of heightened interest in the home with other buyers, they'd have to put down a deposit to secure the spot.
The couple said they sent the person the money through PayPal, and when it came time to get the keys, they were nowhere to be found. So Bobbie reached out to the person she sent the deposit to.
"If we don’t have this home as of Sunday then my family will be without a home," she said. "[The seller] said, 'I’m doing my best to work this out' and after that, he wouldn’t return phone calls, wouldn’t respond to texts."
The couple reached out to the phone number posted on the 'for rent' sign outside the home for the rental company, Main Street Renewal, to find out from them that the house was still on the market.
"That’s when we start getting the red flags," said Brent.
The couple said they contacted their bank and PayPal to file a fraud claim.
"I receive a message back from the person. It said, 'I didn’t scam you. Please close case'" said Bobbie.
High Point Police said this is the second case they're looking into where the same address was used. Police said they're working three active cases right now that stem from this type of scam.
Main Street Renewal told WFMY News 2 they never advertise on Craigslist.
Bobbie and Brent just hope what happened to them doesn't happen to anyone else.
"We're not asking for money. We just don’t want this to happen to someone else," said Brent. "To be in a house stable for Christmas, without mold and heat, and to have your dreams crushed, and to feel like someone can do that."
The couple said family members have set them up in a hotel for the next few days, while their girls stay at friends' houses, while they figure out their living situation.
High Point Police said there are no suspects in custody at this time.
Main Street Renewal provided the following statement and a link to their website on how you can protect yourself:
"We continue to work to proactively identify possible scammers so appropriate action can be taken to safeguard our current and prospective residents, and our communities. If an individual in one of our homes or attempting to lease one of our homes is affected, we work to promptly contact them to strongly encourage them to contact local authorities to report the incident. As a matter of policy, we never advertise on Craigslist and never request payments via PayPal or other apps.
We maintain numerous active measures to alert and protect residents from these situations, including visible signage on our homes of how to spot a rental scam and where they can find verified listings of our available homes, frequently updated fraud prevention recommendations on our website, and clear verbiage on all listings with safety best practices. We will continue to take all appropriate action to keep our homes, residents and communities safe and secure."