Tenant tricks 3 people into signing leases for home she didn’t own, Indiana cops say

The leasing agreement that one Indiana woman signed specifically said she could not sublease the home to anybody else.

But this didn’t stop her from fraudulently trying to rent the property to at least three other people, according to the Fishers Police Department.

In an affidavit for probable cause filed on April 25, the 25-year-old woman is accused of scamming prospective renters out of security deposits and rent payments while she was a tenant herself.

One of those renters lost $1,800 — a security deposit and the first month’s rent — while another paid $1,700 for the security deposit and rent payment. The third victim paid a $600 security deposit before realizing she might have been tricked.

Authorities began investigating the scam on Dec. 13, 2021, after two different people reported fraud and theft involving the same residence in Fishers.

The first report

A man reported he had posted on Facebook that he was looking for a place to rent on Nov. 11. The suspect responded to his post with information about a home she claimed to be renting.

The man said he met her at the home for a walk-through on Nov. 18 and “decided to move forward with leasing,” according to court records. He signed a lease agreement, paid $1,800 and his move-in was scheduled for Dec. 7.

Two days before his move-in date, he messaged the woman asking when he could get the key, police said. She said her movers were not available until Dec. 6, so he could get the key after that.

But on Dec. 6, she told him she was involved in an accident and needed surgery so she was not available to meet him, police said. Then on Dec. 7, she said her dad was in the ICU and again could not turn over the key.

A few days later, the man asked for a refund but she refused, according to authorities. She also would not amend the lease agreement with a new date for move in.

The second report

On Dec. 13, a woman reported she too posted on Facebook seeking a place to rent. The same suspect responded to say she was moving out of her home and wanted to rent it out, authorities said.

The woman and her fiance did a walk-through and noticed the woman “seemingly had items packed as though she was moving out,” police said. She signed a one-year lease on Nov. 19 and was told she could move in on Dec. 1.

Authorities said she transferred $1,700 in payments as part of the agreement.

But before her move in date, the suspect contacted her to say she was in a car accident and needed “extra time” to move, police said. A new date was scheduled for Dec. 10.

Then the suspect asked for an additional two weeks, authorities said.

“(The victim) stated she then searched ‘online’ and found several posts warning potential victims about being defrauded by (the woman) via similar rental schemes,” police said. “(She) stated she subsequently conducted a search and determined that (the woman) was not the property owner, who she implied to be, and was only a tenant.”

A third report

On Dec. 30, authorities said they received one more report regarding fraud involving the same home “for rent.”

After learning of the home for rent via Facebook, a woman said she walked through the home and agreed to rent the property. She paid a $600 security deposit and signed a lease.

“She was supposed to send ... an additional $1,100.00 in exchange for the key to the residence, but she became suspicious of their agreement and never sent it,” police said. “ ... (S)he subsequently learned about one of the other victims ... and after having conversations with him, she discovered she was being scammed.”

An apartment ‘for rent’

In investigating the three reports, a detective recalled a similar case from September 2021, according to court records. The same woman fraudulently tried subleasing an apartment and scammed another woman out of $1,700, police said.

After continuing to postpone the move-in dates, the suspect eventually refunded the prospective renter and no charges were filed.

Eviction

The actual landlord of the home mentioned in the first three reports told police he knew his tenant “defrauded several people,” police said. He was in the process of evicting her “for attempting to sublease his rental property to several different people fraudulently.”

The woman faces charges of theft, fraud and corrupt business influence, according to court records. Authorities have received a warrant for her arrest, records show.

Fishers is part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area.