Calif Rent Scam Suspect Bagged In Nevada; Used Craigslist To Rip Off Off Tenants By Renting Out Parents' Now-Foreclosed Home: Cops; Awaits Extradition

In Porterville, California, KMPH-TV Channel 26 reports:

• It's a scam happening across the nation and right here in the Valley. Crooks rent out foreclosed homes and get away with thousands of dollars. The latest report popped up in Porterville.
  
  
• Currently, Porterville police are looking for 39-year-old Scott Crowder. Police say Crowder has scammed several families out of thousands of dollars. Detectives say he's trying to rent a home that once belonged to his parents, but is currently in foreclosure. Detectives say he takes people's security deposit, gives them fake keys, and then splits.
  
  
• Keri Dunning paid him one–thousand dollars. She says, "He walked us through the place, and made it sound pretty legit. He said we could do whatever we wanted with the place, we could fix it up and paint it. He then took our money and left." Crowder is not returning their phone calls, and they aren't the only the ones.
  
  
• Stephanie Leyva says, "I gave him $2,850; that was first month's rent, last month's rent, and a security deposit of $950."
  
  
• The families saw the house advertised on Craigslist. The ad states the house in a good neighborhood, close to schools and shopping. Stephanie says while trying to find Crowder, she stopped another woman from giving a security deposit for the same house.
  
  
• Investigators with the Porterville Police Department are asking anyone with information on his whereabouts to give them a call.
  

For the story, see Beware! Rental Scam Hitting The Valley.

For a story update, see Rental Scam In Porterville; Man Arrested (Porterville Police say a man suspected of scamming several families out of thousands of dollars is behind bars. 39-year-old Scott Crowder was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada. Crowder remains in custody in Nevada pending extradition to California).