Loveland Resident’s Home is Listed for Sale Without Her Knowledge

What happens when your home is up for sale — but you’re not the one selling it? Loveland, CO resident Shelli Swanson bought her home a year ago. Since then, she has had to greet a constant stream of people who will either knock on her door, or more inappropriately, walk right into her backyard.

Although it’s been an ongoing program, Swanson decided to contact local station 7NEWS after 10 people stopped by in one day. “One was at my porch. One was at my back gate. And then I decided to call you guys. We’ve got to stop this,” she said. She says that her house has been listed on multiple sites by scammers, including Craigslist and RentMoney. It is often described as a “classic bungalow on a shady corner lot” and is listed with a low renting price.

This type of scam isn’t new, and it’s common in many metro areas where low rent housing is in demand, but hard to find. In order to appear legitimate, scammers will use accurate descriptions and photographs, and even sometimes include owner information they can find.

Although it can be tempting to look for a hot deal online, most experts recommend talking to a property management business. Every city will typically have dozens to choose from, and there are over 200,000 such businesses located throughout the U.S. Would-be renters are also urged to be wary of anyone who tries to conduct the transaction supposedly from another country.

“If you are not talking to a property management person, and you are not talking to an owner, you can’t check it,” said Swanson, and she added that one of the would-be renters had already given their social security number to the home’s scammer. Swanson has notified area police, and is hoping that her requests for the listings to be removed from various websites will be successful.