‘I don’t have anywhere to go’: Victim of rental scam faces eviction in Kansas City, Kansas

Louise Lynch was relieved last month when she found a house to rent in Kansas City, Kansas, and got the keys to move in.

Since mid-December, Lynch, her husband and grown daughter had been staying at a hotel.

“We just wanted to go to a place where we could have some peace,” Lynch said, “where we could sleep in our own bed.”

But then she discovered that the lease she had signed was not legal and that she had been scammed. Her family is now under threat of eviction and out $1,600.

Lynch’s plight illustrates how devastating it can be to fall victim to scams. It also underscores a rental market that can be convoluted, especially when out-of-state companies are involved.

In Lynch’s case, the property owner and management company have offices spanning from Missouri to Texas, New York, Boston and Tel Aviv, Israel.

“How come no one’s responsible?” she asked.

Several groups in Kansas said this sort of scam has been happening in other places, though it has not been common in Kansas.

In this case, there’s no easy answers, said Casey Johnson, the director of advocacy and litigation with Kansas Legal Services. Lynch could be considered a tenant, which would grant her some rights, and owners also have a duty to know what’s happening with their properties, he said. But she also did not have a legitimate lease. Rental challenges can be compounded when out-of-state companies are involved, he added.

‘How does this happen?’

Lynch moved from Chicago to Kansas with her daughter in 1998. Her husband had died and she wanted a fresh start in a place with a lower cost of living and good schools.

In recent years, Lynch has had health problems that limit her mobility and she now suffers from the long-term effects of COVID, a challenge her daughter also contends with. Lynch’s second husband is on disability and works part-time at a call center.

After moving out of a place infested with rodents and backed-up sewage, she submitted personal information through a rental website for a Darwin Homes property. It directed her to another verification page where she sent in additional information and then she was sent a code to self-tour a residence on Quindaro Boulevard. When she arrived, she punched in the code, but the key was not in the lockbox. Awhile later she was sent a survey about the home. She filled it out, saying she wasn’t able to see the home.

Then a man who said he was an agent called her, saying he had received her responses. He offered up a different house and the next day, she arrived at the location in the Argentine neighborhood. The key was in the lockbox and she let herself into the three-bedroom home.

She said the man sent her a copy of a lease, which listed the rent as $800, and she sent him a deposit and the first month’s rent through a banking app.

They rented a truck and moved in on Jan. 31. In the family’s living room are two couches, a coffee table with books and framed photos.

But then Darwin Homes called and told Lynch the house had not been legally rented and that she had likely been scammed.

She began crying.

“How does this happen?” she said.

“Where am I gonna get $1,600? I don’t have anywhere to go. What am I supposed to do?”

Lynch filed a police report.

The Star attempted to reach the man, but the phone number was not in service as of Monday.

Multiple companies

Part of the problem Lynch has run into is that the house is owned by one company and managed by a different company, which weeks ago was bought by a yet a different company. She does not know where to turn and still remains confused about how the man got her contact information in the first place.

Wyandotte County records show the house is owned by SFR3-080 LLC, which owns eight properties in Kansas City, Kansas. The Missouri Secretary of State’s website shows the company has offices in Harrisonville, Missouri, and New York City. The company did not return a voicemail left last week.

Lynch said she believes the management company should have been responsible for keeping her information secure.

Darwin Homes is based in Austin, Texas. As of Feb. 23, the company had 37 houses listed for rent in the metro. Many were on the East Side of Kansas City, Missouri, where outside investors have been buying up properties to turn a profit.

Darwin Homes was bought in January by Pagaya, a technology company focused on artificial intelligence with offices in Boston, New York and Tel Aviv.

Darwin Homes CEO Ryan Broderick said the company was aware of scams in the single-family rental business across the country.

“It’s unfortunate and upsetting when innocent would-be renters fall into this trap,” Broderick said in a statement sent by Pagaya. “At Darwin, we do everything we can to educate the prospective residents of the properties we service on this issue by posting physical flyers in our properties, sharing information about how to avoid these scams on our website, and watermarking photography for all Darwin-marketed properties.”

On Feb. 17, Lynch got an email from a manager at Darwin Homes.

“We are legally required to alert you that you are currently in possession of a home you did not legally rent and you will need to vacate or face legal action. I am sure the police told you that,” the message read.

The company encouraged her to re-apply.

Lynch said that entails paying application fees and agreeing to a rent cost that is several hundred more than the $800 listed on her lease, something she cannot afford.

She is scared they will evict her and that will blemish her renter’s history. She does not know what to do or where they are going to end up.

Lynch says people do not understand they are “one crisis away from being in my shoes.”

Local resources and tips

The Better Business Bureau said it appeared that individual scammers were taking advantage of a prospective tenant in this case. Nikolas Reese, a spokesman for the organization, provided these tips:

• Consumers should be on alert for any deals that appear too good to be true and research the listed location to compare average prices

• Research the listing, the email address or the phone number of the person they are communicating with

• Check to make sure the ad is not listed in multiple cities or locations

• Avoid peer-to-peer payment apps to secure an apartment or pay a deposit. Those app services, however, can be used to pay a trusted landlord after securing the property

• Use peer-to-peer payment apps with friends and people you know

• Link a peer-to-peer payment app with a credit card instead of a bank account to get an additional layer of security and allow the consumer to chargeback what they have sent if they find out they were communicating with a scammer

To avoid falling victim of a rental scam, the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department had the following suggestions:

• Ask for a tour before making any deposits

• In Wyandotte County, residential landlords are required to have a rental license. Renters can verify the license by contacting Human Services at 913-573-5460 or visiting this Unified Government website.

• Use an established rental listing company or website

For residents who need help securing housing, the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation administers several programs for low and moderate income earners, said executive director Ryan Vincent. That includes the Housing Tax Credit Program and Section 8. The organization has a search tool for Department of Housing and Urban Development properties and a list of affordable housing options throughout the state.

Johnson, with Kansas Legal Services, said their hotline can be reached at 1-800-723-6953. Property owner information can be found on county appraisers’ websites. The United Way also provides emergency resources, he said.