Mum and daughter caught out in Gumtree landlord scam fear homelessness

[dutchman]

A mum and daughter fear being made homeless after being tricked out of £1,000 by a bogus landlord on Gumtree.



Claire Smith and her 62-year-old mum Lorna Greenstreet thought they had found their perfect home in Bedworth and even sold furniture to help raise the deposit.

They handed over the £1,000 to the landlord and served notice on their tenancies.

But on the day they were due to move in, the landlord told them they would have to wait for the keys - and then came “radio silence”.

Claire, 39, today spoke out about the scam in the hope that others would not fall victim.

And she spoke of her fears that she and her mum could be left homeless.

Claire said: “Estate agents fees are ridiculously expensive so we had a look on Gumtree.

“We looked at the house, he was doing some plastering in the kitchen when we were there because he told me he had bought the house from auction and you could see the work was being done and the house itself was beautiful.

“I had no reason to believe it was a scam. I didn’t take my mum with me the first time, so a couple of days later my mum went round to view the property then basically he said if you are interested it’s a £900 deposit, which seemed about right as the house came fully furnished.”

“We are totally out of pocket now, because the new property was coming fully furnished, I sold all of my furniture to raise the deposit so I am now left with nothing.”

After deciding to move into the home in Pinetree Avenue, both Claire and Lorna handed their notices into their respective homes.

Claire’s tenancy ended just before she was due to move into her new home so she moved into her mother’s small flat, thinking it would be temporary but she is still living there now.

Lorna’s flat in Camp Hill, Nuneaton is only a one-bedroom property, so Claire is having to sleep on a mattress on the living room floor, and the situation could get worse as the tenancy there is due to finish at the end of the month.

She said: “Me and my mum don’t even have a washing machine at the moment and I am sleeping on the sofa.

“We are now worried we will be made homeless.”

When Claire reported what happened to her, the police said it was already an open case, suggesting there are other victims.

If you have any information that could help with investigations, call Warwickshire Police on 101.