The House Chronicles - Volume 7 - "Craigslist Creeper"

At one point during the experience, Pam sent me a text that said, "Call me. Something crazy has happened."

Insert long pause.

"...something good crazy? or bad crazy...?"

"Just crazy. Call me."

Insert fear.

It turns out that some guy (known around our house as the Craigslist Creeper) advertised our house on Craigslist as being up for lease. He pretended to be Pam and stole the pictures of our house off HAR (the Houston real estate website), but had his e-mail address and contact information. A couple had contacted the Craigslist Creeper and said they were interested in leasing the house. Creeper made up some long, detailed story (still pretending to be Pam) about how "she" was a realtor and was moving, but wanted to return God's blessing to someone else and that's why the house was being offered at such a low price. We eventually saw this e-mail and it was riddled with grammar & punctuation mistakes. That would have been a red flag for me! But apparently this couple likes that in a realtor? Creeper asked them for all sorts of information and had them fill out an application. The couple obliged. They hadn't been in the house and the guy said he couldn't show them the house because he had already moved. Darn the luck, right? But he said they could move in at the beginning of August. All they had to do was send the first month's rent and a security deposit and he would be sure to send the keys. It seems so obvious to me...Have these people never seen a Lifetime movie!?

At some point, the couple decided to call "Pam" to ask a few questions. The Craigslist Creeper answered; the guy asked to speak to Pam. Creeper pretended he was Pam's husband and could take the call. For some reason, that didn't sit right with the potential lessee. He decided to google Pam and realized she worked at Remax and her contact information was not the same as what was listed with the house on Craigslist. He called Pam and explained the situation. Eventually all the pieces to the perplexing puzzle came together. 

Fortunately the couple hadn't sent any money to the Creeper. What's so strange to think about is that this couple was packing up and preparing to move into our house! Can you imagine showing up with the moving truck and realizing the place you think you're moving to actually isn't for sell or lease? You'd be homeless! Apparently this situation happens more than one might think. Lucky for this couple, they figured it out before something truly terrible happened and they didn't lose any money. And we didn't get any unexpected roommates showing up on our porch!