Scammer breaks into St. Paul house, tries to rent it out for $1,200 a month

Liz Lightfoot put her St. Paul home up for sale after taking a job in Arizona. She was more than a little surprised to learn someone else had put her home up for rent.

She and police are cautioning others about the latest scam after someone broke into her home in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood and listed it for rent on Facebook to take deposits and initial payments. The scammer went so far as to give prospective tenants tours.

“I wasn’t the real victim, I mean, even though it was my house,” Lightfoot said. “But the people who were about to give this woman their first and last month’s rent and their security deposit, [this] could have made them unable to get a house.”

Her real estate agent reported the situation to St. Paul police. Though officers confronted the woman, who had brought two kids along for a phony showing, no arrests have been made. Police say the case is active.

Housing market ripe for scams

Scammers are taking advantage of the nation’s tight housing market and desperate homebuyers and renters.

“We know anytime there’s a shortage of any product or service, that also means that scammers are going to take advantage of that opportunity to take people’s money and their identity,” said Bao Vang, vice president of communications at the Better Business Bureau.

Lightfoot lived in the house for more than 20 years. It is where she raised her three children. But a job out of state prompted the move and her decision to sell it. She hoped a new family would move into the home she loved.

Neighbors later told Lightfoot that the “For Sale” sign in front of her house was changed to a “For Rent” sign, and that a woman with two children was seen giving tours. The Lightfoot house is currently on the market for around $300,000 but the scammer tried to rent it for $1,200 a month. Lightfoot’s real estate agent Benjamin Songstad called that a “deal too good to be true.”

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