Beware of fraud potential before listing home, Logan woman learns


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LOGAN — A Logan woman learned it's important to be careful when listing your house for rent or sale on the Internet.

After she listed her house, she discovered someone stole digital pictures of her home and listed her house with false information.

With four children and a fifth on the way, Nikki Tait doesn't have much time to herself. However, she recently did have time to find a bigger house and list her current home in Logan online.

"KSL was our first, Craigslist, and then zillow.com," she said.

Tait rents her current home from a property management company that told her if she could find new renters on her own, she could save money on fees.

"The day after I listed it, we had showings," she said.

One prospective renter gave her property management company a deposit and signed a contract, so Tait removed her listings — or so she thought.

"It terrifies me," she said. "It absolutely terrifies me. In fact, when you rang the doorbell I was a little scared."

Photo: KSL-TV
Photo: KSL-TV

Tait found out someone took the pictures from her listings and listed her house on other websites, with a made-up story and made-up number of rooms, for a lower price. She wasn't surprised when people started showing up and calling.

"They were just honest people trying to come and get more information about it," she said.

Apparently the person who listed her home was asking for a deposit upfront. Tait called that just plain fraud.

"They're just using the information that is already there and just trying to get money out of people that have good intentions," she said.

KSL tried to contact the person whose phone number is on an email saying the house is his. KSL's message and email have not been answered.

Tait contacted the Logan Police Department but police cannot do much because there isn't a victim at this point.

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