My child and friends rented an apartment through openrent from Pam and paid 6 months advance rental as they are foreign students. Pam close to GBP30,000 from them (6 months + 5 weeks deposit) but failed to handover the apartment on 22/9.
First, Pam claimed she is refinancing the apt and has no access (why would refinancing limit access to apt, unless she defaulted on her loan?), asking to delay handover by a few days then another few days then went silent. When they threatened to sue her, she said she is forced to sell the apt so they can never move in there. (Another lie – sale of properties should not affect tenancy agreement!)
https://www.openrent.co.uk/property-to-rent/london/4-bed-flat-president-house-ec1v/1995413
Then she offered them an airbnb she claimed to own, handing over on 8/10 as the airbnb is in bad shape, and needed fixing before she can handover. Come 8/10, she said she needs more time to fix the apt and said will handover on 10/10. Then she went silent AGAIN, ignoring their messages. The students went over to the apt to see if they can find her there, to find a group of tourists living in there! She obviously never intended to let the students live there but just misleading them and playing with their emotions, knowing they are already at the verge of breaking down. The poor students have to seek refuge and been staying with friends for the last few weeks with the false hope that she will hand over the property to them.
The students demanded she return the money in 3 days, which she obviously ignored. Pam loves to play with their emotions, knowing they are young and innocent, telling them even if is they sue her, it will take very long time for them to get back the money. The students now need to find another GBP30k to fund rental of another apt! Where is the justice? Taking legal actions is costly for these students too! But yes they are looking into it, can't let Pam get away so easily!
The airbnb she wanted to let to them in lieu of the original apt they rented above. The condition of the airbnb is bad, nothing like the photos, it’s all fake! The airbnb is hosted by Mya, their wannabe singer daughter.
Be very very wary, she claimed to own 12 properties! So do not fall into her trap.
by Wide_Bench6870
5 comments
I mean, its very obviously a scam and most likely ‘Pam’ has no ownership of the property at all and is likely not even a real name. Have they even seen the property in person?
The pictures are staged shots from a previous sale listing of the flat you can find online, everything about this is a red flag for a scam.
Report to the police, action fraud and the bank but accept the money is very very likely just gone.
Spoiler – you’ve been scammed and the money is gone, probably forever. Sorry, but some people are utter cockwombles.
Her profile has been on OpenRent for 8 years with over 20 properties supposedly let by her. So she may be a serial scammer. Have you checked the land registry to confirm she is the legitimate owner of the flat? Please report her to Open Rent, Action Fraud, the Police and ask your Bank to reverse the payment.
Call the police, write to your local MP, contact citizens advice and contact the university.
It says “Pam” has been a landlord on OpenRent for 8 years but there is NO FEEDBACK left for her. That is a red flag.