Internet criminals strike again!

If you read about how Nigerian craigslist scammers tried to rent my house out, this is part deux.  Now I'm the potential dupe-ee, as I respond to a craigslist ad for a house for rent in Portland.  This time, I had my revenge.  Sort of.

My inquiry about the rental home:

Subject: $1300 / 3br - Detached single family home (Portland OR) To: larryrruecker@yahoo.com Cc: " Nancy" Date: Friday, June 10, 2011, 12:43 PM Hi, My husband and I are looking for a rental home in the close-in area for August (1st or 15th; 1 year lease) and would love to see your rental property.  We are relocating from the East Coast and are flying in July 5-9 to house-hunt.  Is there any way we could set up an appointment to see the home while we are in town?  We will be starting our practices at Providence St. Vincent and Providence Portland and are hoping to find a home in between the two hospitals.  We've been responsible homeowners for the past 6 years and we are hoping to find a home we can treat like our own while we search the market to buy after the first year in Portland.   Thanks so much for your time, Nancy

Their canned reply:

On Jun 10, 2011, at 5:24 PM, Larry r Ruecker <larryrruecker@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hello, We are pleased that you have an interest in our house, Our lovely home is still available for lease and we want responsible adults/family who are neat and also believe that they have what it takes to take care of our house as if it were theirs. My wife and I initially had it up for sale but had a change of mind in leasing it out ourselves because the agent that was in charge of our rental property was asking too much of an agent fee and also making it difficult for people who cannot afford the rent, stay away from renting my house. The reason why our house is up for lease is because I got transferred from my place of work to Boston MA, I will be away with my family for at least 4 to 5 years because of the love I have for them, I have decided not to sell our house and also assuring them that we only have few years to spend here and will be willing to lease it out to person/family who is willing to assure us of taking absolute care of our home and pay their rent on time. I will start by telling you more in regards me and my family. I have a daughter named Leslie (20yrs) who attends University of Massachusetts as a medical student, she has a lot going for her and she is also down to earth in all that she does to keep us happy and when she is back home on vacation, she also assist her mom in the house work when am at work. I work as a Robotic Programmer & Welder/Fitter here in Massachusetts and got married to a lovely wife who is a member of Joyce Meyer Ministries . We will be very pleased if we can find the right tenant to rent our home, a person who is a clean freak and does not tolerate anything that has to do with dirt... we also would like to know more about you and your family, your renting experience and how long and when you plan moving into our home. These 3 bedrooms and 2 baths home are very specious and neat. 1,795 sqft Below is the rental property address: 6315 Southeast 23rd Avenue, Portland OR 97202 Pets allowed: Yes Rent:1300 Deposit:1000 The rental fee is inclusive with utilities and my home available as at this moment. Remain Blessed, Mr. & Mrs. Larry R Ruecker

I'm so glad Larry is so trusting as to give out their daughter's full name and collegiate whereabouts - even which part of the university she attends (the med school). Perfect stalker fodder.

My response:


From: Nancy 
Subject: Re: $1300 / 3br - Detached single family home (Portland OR)
To: "Larry r Ruecker" <larryrruecker@yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, June 10, 2011, 3:31 PM

Thanks for your email and I'm very interested in your house. Where would I send the deposit? Just hope it's okay, I am an animal enthusiast and despite having two boas (they like to roam the house), 2 housecats and 4 inside-outside dogs, I'm a neat freak like you are hoping for. I also work on clay pottery and hope to use one bedroom as my studio. I did ministry work too and am happy to see your wife is involved. I do run a small pharmaceutical business on the side for extra money and I have had success doing this out of my home so far. While I won't alter your windows, I will at times need to cover them up with tin foil. I'll use non-marking tape so there is no tape residue after I take it down. 

Thanks, hope to hear from you. 

Another canned reply:

Hello Nancy, We are very pleased that you wrote us regarding our home at 6315 Southeast 23rd Avenue, Portland OR 97202; I also had other people writing me requesting that they rent my property less than a year which I do not support. I want anyone renting my house to at least rent for a year or more. We have also made it known to anyone renting our home that our motives are making sure that the house is kept clean and neat. Utilities include Electricity, water, gas while appliances includes refrigerator, Stove, microwave, dishwasher, Washer/Dryer, Garbage etc.... I initially wrote you that we had plans of selling our house but had a change in mind to lease it out since we will not be staying more than 5 years. I really know that God has lead me to a wonderful person like you, as we are planning on selling our home initially thinking that no one can take care of our home when we are gone but with the help of my wife, we are able to think properly before selling our home and have found out that renting it will be the best option for us as we plan on coming back to our lovely home. You have also said a lot that pleases us and we have also seen how wonderful you can be when you move into our home. My concerns has been solved by you and we believe that all you said should be done the right way in ensuring that we trust you of becoming our tenant. We also plan on making our tenant family friends when they move in. If all arrangement goes well, we will have the entrance keys and other relevant document in a hard copy paper shipped to your present home address for you to move in at your convenient date. Our home is beautiful and need no amendments. All you have to do is bring in your belongings and maintain the utilities for us. We also have Internet cable in our home as we speak, and will like you to take absolute care of our house when you move in. As soon as you get back to me I will be attaching a rental application form for you to fill and get back to us with your information so that we can know you better. Remain Blessed, Mr. Larry & Family

I'm glad Larry is so understanding of my illicit drug business and my 10 foot massive housesnakes.  Landlords and I don't always see eye to eye on this sort of stuff.  God bless these people.