KARE 11 Investigates: Alleged rental scam leaves families out thousands

Families lose more than $20,000 - and a place to stay - when a landlord with a criminal record signs overlapping leases with multiple renters for the same house.
www.kare11.com/article/news/i...
Welcome to the official KZbin channel of KARE 11 News. Subscribe to our channel for compelling and dramatic storytelling, award-winning investigations, breaking news and information you can use.
» Subscribe to KARE 11 on KZbin: kzbin.info_...
» Watch more KARE 11 video: / kare11
» Visit KARE11.com: www.kare11.com/
» Download our mobile app! www.kare11.com/app
» Get KARE 11+ on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV: www.kare11.com/roku
» Find KARE 11 on Facebook: / kare11
» Follow KARE 11 on Twitter: / kare11
» Follow KARE 11 on Instagram: / kare11

[@CuttinBlade]

Lets all hope these people get their money back and this con artist gets hard time.

[@shadow92992]

Wow, I feel terrible for all of these families. This guy is an absolute crook and needs to go back to prison. Losing $5000 is a big deal for most people and definitely can mean the difference between being housed or being homeless. Zillow is culpable too if they have not removed the listing from the website.

[@hueyang5943]

I don't care who that guy is. He played dirty so just put him in jail.

[@dao8805]

Why is the police investigation taking so long?

[@BeccaHetrick]

Maybe because these people are stupid and gave their money to a fake landlord without ever actually seeing the house in person? What kind of idiot hands over thousands of dollars for something that they have never actually seen?

[@ashton8878]

No one go look inside the home anymore first before depositing?

[@johnnypham2850]

FOOLS

[@Trojans5050]

News should follow up with the DA

[@eattherich9215]

Check the court records before you sign on the dotted line.

[@joeschermann7729]

Weak to non-existent regulating of absentee landlords makes this kind of behavior quite tempting.

[@adrijackson9429]

People are too gullible. You don't give up any money until you have the keys, check to see if the person had a valid realtors license (public records), view the property in person. Sometimes you just can't avoid a scammer but people need to learn the red flags. Signing a lease in January, for an apartment to be ready in April is a red flag.

[@MrFraccalass]

It's like this in Italy as well. Untill you won't find the person that will break more than just a leg!

[@mrL9122]

I forgot how expensive renting is....

[@schawnettarobinson8584]

It is insane. People don’t understand and/ or care.

[@johnnypham2850]

Just don’t forget how expensive interest on a mortgage is

[@CuttinBlade]

Excellent investigative reporting

[@mrL9122]

Even if he is a criminal, going to his home is rude and unsafe. Good reporting, but leave that step out.

[@rocketboostjump]

Renters commit fraud too.

[@Tapfire-qz8cg]

This for the lady with the disability, our state has a program run by the Minnesota department of health that will work with landlords to install systems that will allow for an individual with disability to access upstairs rooms and exit and enter the property. This program is of no cost to the individual. Hope this message finds you.

[@cadlac1533]

Follow up.

[@bulbuulo320]

That’s so crazy

[@user-og9xr7wr7i]

Never rent a place if there is a current resident still in the house.

[@Sharonmxg]

A family lives in the house now. Why are these people signing leases and paying thousands for a place they have clearly not been to physically. I cannot imagine paying so much without having had a walk through personally. Also, landlords are required by law in most states to maintain security deposits in an account that is technically not available for his personal use, so a variety of laws are being broken by that dude, but still, I am amazed by the number of people willing to just take it on faith that the situation is above board.

[@schawnettarobinson8584]

People are desperate.

[@eattherich9215]

The man is a career criminal and laws don't mean anything to him.

[@jeremyjackson7429]

I've dealt with these kinds of people for my entire life. Naive, gullible, arrogant, and broke. These people deserve it because they never listen & they never learn. For example, my family keeps falling for the same cons over & over again. They've been repeatedly warned yet they keep doing it. Must have lost more than half a mil at this point. At a certain point, willful ignorance becomes indistinguishable from intentional malice. It's hard to feel sympathy when people are this irredeemably defective. No retirement whatsoever & I refuse to house them nor do I feel bad about it. This is what they chose for themselves.

[@dogydog247]

Sad

[@terraf3257]

So what he's doing is not criminal I'm confused?

[@eattherich9215]

He is scamming people out of their money. I think you will find that theft and fraud are on the statue books.

[@talking2388]

I don't even go to Chinese restaurants anymore.

[@joy4249]

this has nothing to do with race we cant do anything about our skin color, its about actions ...

[@swallowedinthesea11]

He's Korean, not Chinese!

[@talking2388]

@@swallowedinthesea11 Same thing

[@swallowedinthesea11]

@@talking2388 Exactly!

[@swallowedinthesea11]

@@joy4249 You can bleach your skin like Shakira!

[@DJMYC88]

This is why I don't like this country. People like him take advantage of poor and innocent people with little to no money draining them of their savings. People like these need to stay in jail for life.

[@thehoboman]

I hate to break it to you but it's an issue that isn't isolated to just this country..

[@jeannineterese1037]

$7,000 could get you a downpayment to buy your own house. Smh

[@romeysiamese6662]

In addition to down payment- you need closing costs $$$$$😢

[@jeepster0934]

Ahhhh not in today's world!

[@eattherich9215]

'$7,000 could get you a downpayment to buy your own house.' A downpayment, maybe but can they get a mortgage and keep up the payments?

[@thehoboman]

@MaxMax-sj7wb I bought my first house in 2017 with $0 down by utilizing an FHA loan (included closing costs). Within a couple years I refinanced to a traditional loan. Mortgage payments are 1/4 of what I paid in rent before buying.

[@thehoboman]

@@eattherich9215 my biggest financial regret is assuming that i couldn't afford to buy a home and wasting money on rent for so many years... there are a bunch of different programs to help first time homebuyers

[@Caninedriver]

Go figure.....asain scams.

[@jameshall915]

I bet he has a gambling problem.

[@INgirl812]

He’s committing fraud. He needs to pay up and go to jail

[@BeccaHetrick]

Maybe people need to stop giving their money away. These people literally gave a man thousands of dollars to rent a house that they never even saw in person... It's not his fault that they're all gullible and stupid...