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LAPD warns landlords of a rental scam involving fake IDs & cashier's checks. Scammers sublet apartments, leaving landlords stuck in legal battles. Know your rights and stay vigilant! #RentalScam #LAPD #RealEstateFraud #LosAngeles #TenantRights
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0:00
An LAPD alert tonight though for anyone
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with an apartment building and anyone
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looking to rent. CBS LA's Lauren Posen
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is live in Hollywood tonight to explain
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a rental scam that's now under
0:12
investigation. Lauren?
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Well, Pat, listen to this. The landlords
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we spoke with told us they thought these
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cashier checks were legit, but they
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weren't. And LAPD is saying that these
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scammers are targeting multiple
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neighborhoods with a crew of two people.
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They're criminals with no conscience.
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They have a tremendous sense of
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entitlement and uh and they know that
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they can play the system and they do.
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Michael Renco thought he was renting his
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Hollywood property to legit tenants and
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even hired a screening company.
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They showed up with a cashier's check.
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My inexperiences, I gave them the keys
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thinking cashiier checks like gold. They
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don't c they don't bounce. They bounce
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when they're fraudulent.
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He's not alone. Landlord Jason Catz got
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scammed, too.
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And I get an email from the bank um with
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the with the payment returned that I'm
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like, "This can't be. This is a cashier
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check." They never get returned.
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LAPD says both men were scammed by these
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two suspects who call themselves Manuel
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and Igor. Police do not know their real
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identities yet. The scam starts,
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detectives say, by renting apartments
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with fake IDs, using their photos, but
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other people's information, and paying
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with counterfeit checks like this one.
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When the the victim finds out that
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they're cash uh counterfeit checks, uh
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somebody had already moved in, but it's
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not the person that originally rented
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the apartment.
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The suspects then sublet the units. Catz
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got the tenant out, but Renco is still
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stuck. His only recourse is to go
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through the courts to get them out.
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California is very tenant friendly, and
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some states like Los Angeles have even
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greater tenant protections. So, if
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tenants want to drag the process out, it
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can sometimes take landlords weeks or
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even months to get a court order.
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Fake IDs, fake cashiers checks, real
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stress, and money out the door for
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landlords whose homes have been taken
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over by scammers.
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What they're saying is, "We know that
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they're frauds. We know that they're
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doing this illegal, but they have
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rights.
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What about my rights? Where's my rights?
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LAPD says so far no arrests yet. If you
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have any information about those two
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suspects we showed you, the Commercial
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Crimes Department would like to hear
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from you. You can go ahead and call LAPD
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if you have the information. Reporting
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live in Hollywood, Lauren Posen, CBSLA.
#Crime & Justice
#Law Enforcement