NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Nashville man is living out of his car after a rental scammer posed as a landlord, collected payment through Zelle and Cash App, and disappeared — leaving him with a fake lease and no place to live.
Metro Police say they have received nearly 200 reports of fake rental deals across the city so far this year, as Nashville's housing crunch pushes more renters to online listing platforms where scammers are waiting.
Tony said he found what looked like the perfect rental on Craigslist — an East Nashville duplex with decent rent and a landlord who seemed willing to work with him. He was directed to download a legitimate app to schedule a self-guided tour of the property.
"He called me up, and he's like, 'Enter these numbers.' And when I did, the box opened up, so I had the keys automatically," Tony said.
Everything about the listing appeared real. The man posing as the landlord guided Tony through the property over the phone, accepted payment, and even sent a lease. Believing the home was his, Tony moved in and left a review for the property on the app.
"Well, if you're able to send me the first month's rent, he's like, 'You'll be secured.' I said, 'Okay.' So me thinking, man, dreams do come true. I'm happy. I'm like, I finally found a good place, you know, rent was decent, somebody finally worked with you," Tony said.
The review is what alerted the actual leasing agency to what had happened.
"Tuesday afternoon, around 3 o'clock, 3:15, I got a phone call from the actual agency that oversaw the property, you know, the leasing agent, his name was Adam, and he told me, like, well, I'm afraid to tell you, he's like, but you got scammed out of your money," Tony said.
Metro Police say the financial damage in cases like Tony's can be significant.
"We've seen it go so far as a few thousand dollars of loss and people getting security codes, real security codes to move into these homes, and they move in," Sgt. Clinton Schroeder said.
Tony never met the person posing as his leasing agent in person — something police say is a major warning sign.
Investigators urge renters to verify listings across multiple platforms and watch for inconsistencies.
"This year, we've seen approximately 200 reports of this come in from across the city," Sgt. Schroeder said.
"You want to confirm that information. If you see that listing on a secondary market site, compare it to another market site," investigators said. "Did the name of the agent change? Did the phone number change? Did the email address change?"
For Tony, the loss went far beyond money.
"I am living out of my car, so that's where we're at right now," Tony said.
He has filed a police report and is waiting to hear from a detective, hoping to recover some of what he lost. He said he chose to share his story to warn others.
"Taking the innocence of good people like that, you know, it's not right, you know, it's painful, and it hurts, and it affects, you know, not just the person involved, but their families, and you know who they got to rely on to take care of it. Just hurts," Tony said.
Investigators urge renters to verify listings through multiple sources, meet property managers in person whenever possible, and never rush to send money electronically.
This story was reported on-air by journalist Kelsey Gibbs and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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