I like the part where he pretended to be the homeowner and met the Craigslist buyers in the foreclosed homes.
It’s much more efficient that way - no heavy lifting, the “buyers” remove the appliances from the foreclosed homes.
A Mesa man contracting with Fannie Mae to clean foreclosed homes admitted to police that he sold appliances in the victims’ homes on Craigslist.com.
Jamie Pantastico searched the Fannie Mae Web site for foreclosed homes and gained access to homes through key lockboxes, according to Chandler police Detective Frank Mendoza.
Pantastico, 39, would take photographs of home appliances to later post them for sale on Craigslist.
Potential buyers would come to foreclosed homes to view appliances while Pantastico posed as the homeowner, Mendoza said.
This guy ain’t shy.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Rob 10.19.08 at 5:33 am
I have an entertaining story along these lines. I was 18 when I moved to Phoenix with a couple of buddies. We searched the news paper and found a home for rent in north Phoenix. We met a guy at the home, signed a 12 month lease and gave him a deposit. He said that he and his wife were renting the home and intended to live in their motor home and travel around the country. The guy instructed us not send rent checks, he said he would stop in every month or two when they were in town and pick up the checks.
It worked out great because the guy never came back for his rent. However, about 5 months in we got a knock on the door. I answered to find two men standing with a baffled look. They said something like; what the **** are you doing here? Get the **** out. Apparently the guy found the foreclosed home, broke in and changed the locks so he’d have keys. The bright side is we lived about 5 months for free, minus the deposit.
John Wake - Real Estate 10.19.08 at 9:10 am
Rob,
Great story!