I tried to rent from someone overseas

[Emdruffel]

I tried to rent a house from an owner in London.
I should have known better but I was caught up in the deal.
I sent him 1200 dollars as a deposit and in return he was going to send us the keys. I have the information that he gave us. I also have his signature on a signed rental agreement along with 50 plus emails negotiating terms of the agreement.
Is there anything that I can do to get this money back

 

[fredrikklaw]

Who owns that house?

Do you know for certain that he really even is the owner of the property? I presume you do not know so the first thing to do would be for you to contact the property tax assessment office of the county the property is situated and find out who actually owns that piece of property.

If it transpires that the house belongs to a person other than the one in London, then it is safe to assume that you have been scammed and just put it down to experience and move on.

If however the property does indeed belong to the person in London and you have a signed lease agreement in your hand, then you are for all intents and purposes the rightful tenant occupier of the property and can basically enter the property by having a locksmith change the front door lock and you will not be considered a trespasser.

But I think you should first and foremost call your county's property tax assessment office and find out who owns the property.

fredriklaw

 

[Emdruffel]

Thanks for the information.
He does not own the house. He's using the same name as the actual owner and I do not know if it is just a coincidence that he has the same name or if he has a fake ID that is allowing him to pick up the money orders.

At this point I'm pretty positive that we're out of luck to get our money back I am now just wondering if there is anyway to prosecute him so that he can't do this to some other poor college student.
He's claiming to be someone that he's not.
He may or may not have a Fake ID in London.