Woman who lost $1,000, leaving her short for her bills, among rental scam victims in Kenora, Ont.
CBC
A woman from Wauzhushk Onigum Nation is warning people in northwestern Ontario to be wary of rental scams after her daughter lost $1,000, leaving her short for next month's bills.
Ruth Skead said her daughter jumped at what appeared to be a perfect property: a two-bedroom home on Cambrian Drive in Kenora for $1,000 a month, all utilities included.
Her daughter transferred money for the first month's rent to a person claiming to be the landlord. Skead had offered to help with the last month's rent, but quickly saw red flags in the arrangement.
The purported landlord said they were based in Kenora but had a New York phone number. They said they were out of town and had to mail the house keys from Vancouver, but before doing that, needed the first and last months' rents paid and a lease signed.
After Skead refused to send last month's rent, the purported landlord kept pushing.
"I told them, 'You're not going to get [any] money until I see those keys and until somebody opens that door,'" Skead said.
"Almost right into midnight, sometimes, they'd be calling."
Skead's daughter has reported the incident to police but is left $1,000 short for her current rental, which Skead said is a rundown house without consistent access to heat and electricity. Her daughter pays more than $1,400 a month to live there with her two teenage children — rent that's harder to afford on Ontario Works.
Rental scams have become more common in the region over the past few years, said Susan Lemay, a sales representative with Century 21 Northern Choice Realty Ltd. based in Kenora.
Skead's daughter wasn't the only victim to the Cambrian Drive rental listing; Lemay knows of another person who lost a $2,000 deposit for the same house.
The property was familiar to Lemay because it was recently sold, which is why when Skead called her about it to ask her advice, she knew something was off.
"The landlord, or the potential landlord, was a totally different name from what the actual registered owner of the house was, so we definitely knew that it was a scam at that point," Lemay said.
Const. Phil Mays of Kenora Ontario Provincial Police told CBC News in an email that while he wasn't familiar with the Cambrian Drive situation, similar scams have been reported in the Kenora area.
"We advise people to ensure they complete their due diligence and either reach out to someone in the area where you look to rent, so they can physically visit the site," Mays said.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
Vote for the party that will protect First Nation rights, says head of northern Ontario treaty group
In parts of northeastern Ontario, including areas in or around Sudbury and Timmins, First Nation voters could help decide election outcomes, according to the Assembly of First Nations.
Nova Scotia's 10 universities have signed new agreements with the province that outline funding, accountability requirements and stipulations the schools must abide by to access some of the money.
Shila Green is convinced she'd be dead if it weren't for a clean supply of opioids she received while in the throes of addiction.
This is part of a series of regional features focusing on issues and ridings in B.C. that could prove critical to the outcome of the federal election on April 28.
A jury in Cayuga, Ont., has found both Randall McKenzie and Brandi Stewart-Sperry guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Ontario Provincial Police Const. Greg Pierzchala.
A woman from Guatemala says she and her two U.S.-born children were held for nearly a week by customs agents in Detroit after a phone app's directions to the nearest Costco led them to an international bridge connecting the city to Canada.
Alberta's measles outbreak is now the worst recorded in nearly three decades and that has health experts raising the alarm and renewing calls for stronger messaging from the provincial government.
Continued investments in affordable housing should be a priority for the next federal government if any progress is to be made on the homelessness crisis in Thunder Bay, the executive director of a community organization said.
A former fare inspector for Metrolinx says enforcing the rules around accessible parking spots at GO stations was not a priority for the transit agency during his time there.
"Welcome to my campaign office," Val Neekman says as he opens the trunk of his car.
With just days to go until Canadians head to the polls to vote in the federal election, candidates across P.E.I. are hitting the campaign trail in an effort to become — or remain — a member of Parliament. To make sense of who's running for which party and where, CBC P.E.I. spoke to the candidates running in each of the province's four ridings.
Students at Yellowknife's St. Patrick High School had a chance to meet some of the N.W.T.'s federal election candidates on Thursday and ask questions about things that matter to them, including the cost of living, the drug crisis and community safety.
Through a fluke of timing, the federal election coincides almost perfectly with the one-year anniversary of the government-owned Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion coming online — at a time when public sentiment around pipelines is relatively positive.