Latricia Lynn Marshall - Forgery of a lease agreement, stolen lockbox on the property and made copies of keys for the house and gave to the family who are now occupying Manvel TX

I’ve listed my property for rent on Zillow.com and now find myself in a very troubling situation.

On March 26th, Latricia Lynn Marshall contacted me via Zillow, expressing interest in renting the property. Initially, I didn’t respond, but they persisted, even after I informed them that they didn’t meet my rental criteria, as she had applied to Zillow.

Today, March 29th, I visited the property and was shocked to find that a family had already moved in, including several women and men. I immediately called the police, and after hearing both sides of the story, the police informed us that the family had been scammed. They had paid cash to a third party but hadn’t signed any legitimate lease or rental documents with me.

The family showed me a PDF document on their iPhone, which had my name, the rental application, and a digital signature that wasn’t mine. However, when I asked them for a copy of the lease they had supposedly signed, they were a bit evasive and only showed the document on their phone, but didn’t provide a full copy of it.

The police reviewed the situation and suggested I consider whether the family might meet my rental criteria and allow them to stay.

When I asked the family how they made the payment, they confirmed that they paid in cash and showed a transaction from their credit union where they withdrew the money. One of the family members even asked me how much they would need to pay if I allowed them to stay, and they expressed willingness to pay the initial deposit and one month’s rent.

Additionally, the family is now requesting 15 more days to stay and then leave the property. When I entered the house, I saw that about 80% of their belongings had already been moved in.

In the final conversation I had with the person on Zillow, they claimed that I had sent them the lease and that they had already paid the money. This is completely false—I never sent any lease or received any payment.

I think this is all a scam, with all these new families who took over the house, and also the person named Latricia Lynn Marshall reaching out (they are all part of a single group, but I couldn't find a connection between them). But this seems like a seasoned potential real estate scam to me.