Latest twist to Craigslist scam: Replacing the locks

Dena Everman in Marietta, Ga., was ready to close on the sale of her home of 11 years when she learned that a family – not the buyers – had already moved in. Everman, who’d moved out of the home weeks prior, encountered the occupants who rented the home through a Craigslist scam, when she stopped by the property the day before closing to take a look at it a final time. The closing that was set to take place the following day on June 26 with the rightful buyers has been put off as Everman struggles to get the family evicted from the home.

Latest twist to Craigslist scam: Replacing the locks

“I’m extremely frustrated that someone that has no legal right to be in my home is staying in my home, and I’m the one that has to prove that they don’t belong there,” Everman told USA Today. “I went by the home on June 25 to say goodbye to my home. When I drove up, there was a different car in the driveway and it looked like somebody was in my home.”

Everman says she never gave permission for Tamera Pritchett, her fiancé and two children to move in.

However, Pritchett says the family found the home listed for rent on Craigslist. She says they signed e-documents and wired $3,000 to someone in Garland, Texas, who claimed to own the home with Everman. She says they received the keys to the home and moved in two weeks ahead of Everman arriving.

“We’re not squatters,” Pritchett told USA Today. “We have documents. We have keys.”

Local police are investigating the predicament, however they still haven’t evict Pritchett and her family from the home.

“At this point, I’m the legal owner of the property, and I shouldn’t have to expend this energy to get someone out that I did not give permission to be in my home,” Everman says. “The police officers … decided it wasn’t breaking and entering at that point, even though there was a broken window and changed locks and I had the deeds to my home and proof that it was my home.”

Why worry about being scammed, with interest rates where they are why wouldn’t you purchase your home as opposed to rent. Nick & Cindy Davis with RE/MAX Premier Group are here to assist you. We are always a just a click here away or:

Start Your Personal Search

Location

Type Single FamilyCondo/Townhouse/Co-OpMobile/ManufacturedFarms/RanchMulti FamilyResidential IncomeCommercialLot/Land/Acreage

Beds Any1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+

Baths Any1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+

Price

To

 

See All Homes in and Around Tampa Florida

See all All Homes Around Tampa.
(all data current as of 4/1/2025)

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.