so now OAOASO is mad at me
seems I’m a downer
I told him there was something wrong with the deal he got himself into. I think it makes him ad when I am right. Anyway, his landlord sold the house and he has to move out. He went to a realtor to find another rental and she sent hi off to check out some rent-to-own deal.
As soon as he told me about it I saw red flags. The first one being (and this is where he is really mad at me because he doesn’t need me telling him what he an afford) that I know there is no way he could afford the house.
Sorry dude, but when you still owe me $455 from last year and I’m still waiting for the money, and you have to take in roommates to help pay the rent, and you will call me from the road and ask me to put $20 in your account so you can buy some lunch and you will pay me back on Firday - it’s not rocket science to know you can’t afford a $400,000 house. People who can afford $440,000 houses don’t need to borrow $20 for lunch.
The second red flag was that all it takes is a $69 check for a credit check and a $4000 check for the deposit and you can move in. If the rent is $2500/month then at minimum it should be $5000 to move in, and would usually be $7500 (first months rent, last months rent and security deposit). Nope, all you need is a credit check and $4000 and move right in. No employment check needed, no income verification, move on in and in two years come up with $16,000 and you can buy the house.
The terms of the lease, pay $2500/month and what ever amount over that you want to put towards escrow. No set amount, just what you can afford each month, it’s all good.
Then he sent me a copy of the lease.
You have got to be kidding me. the tenant is responsible for everything, including the roof, plumbing, wiring, everything!
Then the terms of the lease, you could be evicted for having a gold fish, leaving a dirty dish in the sink, not cleaning the leaves out of the gutters in a timely manneer, and the landlord has the right to inspect any time with NO notice (I’m not even sure that is legal). I think you could be evicted for farting in the wrong direction. Well maybe if you went outside, except even one complaint from a neighbor for anything was also grounds for eviction.
Anyway, OAOASO called the realtor about something (not anything I said was wrong because I’m just a downer who doesn’t know anything) and the realtor told him don’t sign anything until I get back to you and it turns out the man offering the rent-to-own deal doesn’t even own the house. The realtor told him people will rent houses, turn around and offer themas a rent to own deal and then take off with the deposit. I think even if the scammer hadn’t done that he worded the lease in such a way that the tenant can be evicted for just about anything and since the tenant violated the lease the scammer gets to keep any of the money in escrow.
So OAOASO hadn’t signed any papers but he had written a check for the credit check and the deposit. He told the man to hold the deposit check for a few days until he could put the money in his account. Well the scammer didn’t wait, and fortunately OAOASO hadn’t deposited the money and the bank refused to pay on the check. All he is out is the $69 for the credit check, $38,50 for the bounced check, and $35 for the stop payment on the check.
I handled the banking end of things since I am on his account, he has to handle the credit side of things because now the scammer has all his credit information.
Now he is mad at me, whatever. He’s too trusting, which is surprising because he is way more street smart than I am. I think everything is a scam until proven otherwise.
They’re the same as my old shoes, just without the hole on top of the left one.
