Jacksonville family gives entire paycheck to man pretending to rent out home he didn't own

A local family said it was taken for hundreds of dollarsby a man who pretended to rent them a home he really didn’t own.

For members of the Smith family, home right now is in their SUV. They don’t know what’s going to happen next.

“We have three kids, and we have no idea,” said Clarissa Smith.

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Smith said they gave their entire paycheck to a man who claimed to own a Northwest Jacksonville home.

“He seemed really nice,” she said.

Smith said she posted on Facebook asking if anyone knew a place for rent. She said a woman responded and gave her a man’s number to call.

“He seemed really legit, like he’s like, 'Come look at it. If you can come up with $1,000 you can have to move into the place,'” said Smith.

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Smith said after the man showed her family the place inside, they gave him the $1,000 in cash and moved in.

On Thursday morning, the real homeowner showed up, and shortly after, so did the police.

“They were really understanding. They said the guy gone stole all the keys,” said Smith.

Smith said police pointed out the bottom pages of the lease said Rocket Lawyer.com Document – it had been printed off a lawyer’s website.

“We thought he was really real, and he just took our money like it was nothing,” said Smith.

While this family doesn’t know what’s next, it is hoping others won’t fall for the scam.

Action News Jax did reach out to the man, but he didn’t respond. We also reached out to the real property owner to see how this happened, but we are still waiting to hear back.

Cox Media Group