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When the new tenants arrived with a truck full of furniture and a receipt for the first month’s rent on the house, they found more than they had bargained for. What they found was 12 other people, all ready to move in to the same apartment and all with similar receipts.
Police in Columbus, Ohio, say a mother and daughter team, Patricia Joann Manson and Misty Renee Stokes, rented the house from a local psychologist and then placed an ad to rent it to others. When prospective clients showed up, the two represented themselves as the owners and took $25 application fees from everyone who expressed an interest.
Later, the women called all of the applicants and promised each the house. All they needed, the women told the renters, was $700 for the security deposit and the first month’s rent. All renters were told they could pick up the keys the next Sunday at 3 pm; but when the appointed time came, the two women, who were now $9000 richer, were long gone.
A group of local rental property owners pledged to help those who were scammed by finding them available housing and waiving the security deposits. Meanwhile, an attorney representing Daniel Phalen, the real owner of the house, said Phalen was unaware of the women’s fraudulent activities.
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