Homeowner takes on scam artist

Editor's note: Meet Marcie Geffner at the upcoming Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco, which runs from Aug. 5-7, 2009. She will be available to meet with conference attendees from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Palace Hotel's Ralstom Room. Click here to send Marcie a message.

Is your house for rent? Or for sale? If you answered no, think again, and then take a look online. You may be surprised at what you find out.

Surprise was but one of the choice emotions that Sarah Stelmok, a homeowner and real estate agent in Fredericksburg, Va., felt when she discovered that a home she owns had been offered as a rental on a prominent Web site without her knowledge.

The home is a 1,200-square-foot townhouse in downtown Fredericksburg. It has two bedrooms and one-and-one-half bathrooms and is located in a desirable area that boasts a city-run stock fishing pond, dog park, historic district, tennis and racquetball courts, a small college and a large city park.

Stelmok says she and her husband lived in the townhouse until 18 months ago, when they bought and moved into their "dream home" just five blocks away. They put the townhouse on the market but withdrew the listing after eight months and rented it to friends until they, too bought a home of their own. The Stelmoks soon found new tenants who planned to move into the townhouse in mid-summer.

Along the way, both Stelmok and her husband were contacted by two different women who wanted to know whether the Stelmoks actually owned the townhouse. Both of the women had seen the townhouse advertised for rent on the Web site, complete with photos of the interior, and one of the women had also found a virtual tour that Stelmok had created when the property had been listed for sale.

Both women said they'd been in contact via e-mail with a person who claimed to be the owner of the townhouse and who confirmed that the monthly rent was just $900, a 25 percent discount for such a home in that neighborhood.

Stelmok sent an e-mail of her own to the imposter, who had signed himself with the name "Michael Richie" and said he was in Nigeria. A bizarre, hilarious, sad and scary correspondence ensued in which Stelmok, in the guise of an eager renter, attempted to extract a bank account number from "Richie" while "Richie" attempted to convince Stelmok to wire $1,400 to him by Western Union.

"Richie" sent Stelmok a Rent Application Form, which she filled out with fake information and dutifully sent back, only to be told by "Richie" that her "application" to rent her own townhouse had been "approved." When she balked at wiring the funds, "Richie" helpfully sent her the addresses and hours of operation of five Western Union offices in Fredericksburg. ...CONTINUED

All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.