Rental ruse leaves family homeless
CBC News
Posted: Oct 30, 2012 8:25 PM CST
Last Updated: Oct 30, 2012 10:15 PM CST
Chelsea Squirrel and her family are looking for a place to stay after being duped into thinking a house was available for them. (Jennifer Quesnel/CBC)
A family in Saskatoon is desperately looking for a place to rent after learning they were duped into a home by someone who was not the owner of the property.
Chelsea Squirrel, along with her fiancé and four children, thought they had found a perfect place for their growing family. Squirrel is pregnant and is due in November.
They found the home through the popular classified ad website, Kijiji.
The couple met the woman behind the ad, filled in some authentic looking paperwork and even received keys to the place.
In mid-October they moved in, after handing over $1,400 for half a month's worth of rent and a damage deposit.
However, just hours after unloading their stuff, Squirrel said the real owner of the place was in touch.
"She was shocked," Squirrel said.
Before long, it was determined that the home was made available to Squirrel by the previous renter, which led to more questions.
"She was asking me where her original renter was," Squirrel said. "And I told her that she moved out already and I was renting this place from her."
CBC News spoke to the property manager for the home and learned that the previous tenant had fallen behind on rental payments.
Squirrel and her family were told to vacate the premises by mid-afternoon on Saturday.
They complied and have found a temporary place but are out several hundred dollars and still need a permanent home.
CBC News also contacted the previous tenant who insisted what happened was just a mistake and she would get Squirrel's money back to her.
Alyson Edwards, a spokeswoman for Saskatoon police, told CBC News that the case is under investigation.
With files from CBC's Jennifer QuesnelShare Tools
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