LINCOLN COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – In determined want of housing, a Chandler household falls right into a fraud. They paid tons of for a house that is not for lease, claiming a pretend itemizing agent pulled out all of the stops to drag off his ruse.
Vickie Lamb will not be positive what’s subsequent, as a purple scorching housing market spills into Lincoln County lease properties.
So when a household pal discovered a house reportedly available on the market, she jumped on the alternative.
“I did not wish to transfer away from Chandler, but when I’ve to I’ve to,” she mentioned. “Round right here, you may’t discover something to lease, I’ve by no means seen it so unhealthy. All people desires on this space!”
The person behind the rental deal was 32-year-old Cody Barnes.
With a $600 deposit, Vickie, her niece Lisa, her veteran husband and a seven-year-old grandchild packed as much as transfer in.
However the important thing they got, would not work.
“[The key] does not go to something; tried to get within the home windows, the whole lot I might,” mentioned Vickie. “We had the whole lot packed up, able to go, then the underside dropped out, discovered [Cody] did not even personal it.”
It is a brazen spin on a basic rip-off. As housing heats up and eviction moratoriums elevate, these rental frauds have risen as of late.
With costs too good to be true, households really feel the necessity to act.
“We have really seen a rise in such a rip-off, each time COVID actually hit,” mentioned Kitt Letcher, discussing a earlier pretend itemizing with In Your Nook. “It is a option to make folks rush the decision-making course of, so they do not do their homework.”
However Cody Barnes’ transfer was slightly daring, provided that he used his actual title and reportedly even lives in close by Wellston.
We discovered he was arrested simply months in the past, accused of promoting iPhones on-line to a buyer out of Texas, who claimed she paid $900 and by no means obtained the product.
When he isn’t allegedly defrauding Oklahomans down on their luck, Cody may be powerful to search out.
Information 4 stopped by his residence, left voicemails and texted, however our requests for remark weren’t returned.
In the meantime, Vickie’s housing scenario is working out, and he or she tells our workforce she’s out of time.
“Broke my coronary heart that somebody might do this, reap the benefits of you that approach, ‘specifically while you’re older, retired, after which you’ve a baby you are making an attempt to boost,” she mentioned. “To reap the benefits of you that approach, it is horrible.”
There’s late breaking information on this story. Simply days in the past, Cody Barnes was arrested in Luther, and now sits within the Oklahoma County Detention Middle dealing with a number of unrelated costs.
Authorities say his crimes span jurisdictions, and are asking anybody with data on his dealings to return ahead. Nameless reporting is an possibility.
Vickie Lamb tells our workforce her household’s future continues to be up within the air. They’re now working with the VA, nonetheless looking for a lease residence.
