Indianapolis Woman Evicted After Falling for Fake Rental Scam
INDIANAPOLIS — A woman in Indianapolis was evicted after moving into a home she thought she had legally rented, only to find out the lease she signed was fake.
She toured the Beech Grove-area house, worked with someone claiming to be a rental agent, paid a deposit, and moved in with her kids in November. A few weeks later, someone knocked on the door and told her she was there illegally.
“I was at work when I got the call — they had broken in the door and were taking our things,” she said. She didn’t want to be named but said she started searching for a home in October for her and her four children.
She found the listing online and thought she was dealing with T&H Realty, a well-known property management company in Indianapolis. But the person she was emailing wasn’t with the company at all.
Jeremy Tallman, CEO of T&H Realty, told WISH-TV scammers often copy photos from real listings and create fake ads on sites like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. “They’ll ask for payments through apps like Venmo or Cash App, which is a red flag,” he said. Real landlords usually use secure payment portals.
The fake lease looked official and even claimed the home belonged to T&H. The woman got access to the key through a real self-showing service, making the scam feel even more believable.
T&H says once they learned someone was living in the home with a fake lease, they followed the legal eviction process — which took until February. The woman says the experience was “traumatizing.”
Tallman said his team gave her multiple chances to leave and followed the law every step of the way. He also warned other renters to double-check who they’re dealing with before signing anything or handing over money.
