Timothy Candela Craiglist Rental House Scam McHenry Illinois

My husband and I were searching for a house to rent and my husband found this post on Craigslist and sent "Timothy Candela" this email:

His response was this:

Thanks for your email, I personally own the house, I want my property to be  well taken good care of, and there are some rules and regulation in  which I do give out to tenant willing to rent my house so please don't  disrespect my order But if you are still capable of renting my house the rules and regulation goes this way!!!
You must keep my house clean  including the surrounding, you must know the way in which you use the  stove so as to avoid fire outbreak,you must not disturb the neighbor.

I  decided to rent out the property due to our transfer to (Fortlauderdale,FL)  as a matter of my professional where I work as a volunteer with  Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability (ECFA),here is the site  for more detail about why I am here in Fortlauderdale,FL. (www.wycliffe.org) And my wife who is a missionary's dealing with Bible Translation and literacy world wide.my initial plan is to sell the house but my family advise me not to sell  it anymore.

we are looking for someone to move in ASAP, so we are renting it out since we need someone to take good care of the property in our  absent. Don't be surprise if you find the home with another site and  deference price,I have plan to rent it through Real estate before, but  they are not serious simply because they have a lot of house to lease  out And they added some money to the rent while there commission is not  fair.so I decided to terminated the contract with the Real estate since they are after money.

Have this in mind you must know the kind of  person that I'm nevertheless I am giving you this rules because of what  corresponded between myself and my last tenant. the keys and documents  are with us here in Fortlauderdale,FL... am not available to set up an appointment for showing ,So I will need to ship them to you before you can occupy the house But you can drive by the house anytime to take a look at the area and surrounding, You can also peek through the  windows if you don't mind.For now we are looking for 2 or 3 years lease  or rather lets us know how long you wish to stay.

 let me know if you are still interested so that I can forward you the Rental Questionnaire to fill out.

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION...........

Number of Bedrooms:2
Number of baths:1.0
Square footage:1,034
Pets are welcome!!!
Rent:750
Refundable security Deposit:$850
House Address:3205 S Wright Road Mchenry, IL 60050        

Thanks and remain blessed.
Mary L Arcuri & Timothy Candela & Family

We then asked for the questionaire and he responded with this email:

Thanks for the email, I am getting pleased with your plight, We have been  searching for the right person to occupy the home in our absent which I  believe God will answer my prayer very soon towards my property.the  utilities are included in the rent like Washer,Dryer,Heat,Garbage,Disposal,Fireplace,Fridge,stove,Dishwasher,Dryer,Refrigerator,internet access e.t.c.We plan to stay here for 4years or more and I might also decide  to move back to my new renovated home in Orlando upon my arrival.Filling out of the Questionnaire will determined if you are the right person to occupy my house,we will send another email to let you know our final  decision.

my cell phone is:(443) 333-9607.

Rental Information......

Full Name?
Full Address?
Cell Phone Number?
Home phone Number?
Work Phone Number?
Date of Birth?
Are you married?
How many people will be living in the house?
picture of you and your family?
 
Do you have a pet?
Do you have a car?
Occupation?
What is your monthly income?
Reference Contact Name and Address if Any?
Why are you moving?
When do you intend to pay the deposit?
When do you intend Moving in?
Any Police problem?
 
Thanks and remain blessed.. 

We immediatly filled out the questionaire and sent it back to him. Later that afternoon we recieved another email response from him:

Hello Aspen,

Thanks to filled out the Rental Questionnaire, I reviewed and pray over to it  now, and see how sincere you are which really give me a rest of mind  seeing the right person which we have always been praying for. I and my  family are extremely happy because the content of your letter is clear  and frank. So we have decided to accept you as our new tenant,why I made my house so inexpensive because I believe as a dedicated Christian that everybody deserves a home both the rich and the poor. We just want our  property to be incurred under a proper monitoring and make sure you  conform to your promises.We are giving you this opportunity base on  trust so please do not disappoint us.

we ask for the refundable  security deposit of $850 for you to move in,after you move in you can  for your rent at your convenience time.

Kindly reconfirm your Full Address for the shipping of the keys/document across to you ASAP: 1234 Some Street in IL.so I can forward your address to the FEDEX agent ASAP.

Here are the contents of the documents of the house which would be shipped  to you with the keys via FedEx courier and you will receive the package in just 24hours after  payment.
 
1)Entrance and the rooms Key.
2)Paper/Permanent house form(Containing your reference details).
3)The house documentary file.
4)Payment Receipt
5)driving direction/Full  description of the house.
6)Hard copy of lease Agreement
7)Authorization Letter.

my family say hello to you...

Thanks and remain bless.

We then asked him a few more questions about the property and haven't received a response yet. We noticed a lock box for keys on the door of the house which we thought was kind of weird so we have called the realtor and are awaiting a response from them as it is a holiday weekend. All of this seemed to go way to fast and way too good so we did our research and searched the internet for this guys name and couldn't find anything on him. Checked his websites he gave us and they came up legit. I then took the picture which looked too wierd and Google searched it and found this website with the same exact emails and same exact responses word for word on top of the SAME family photo attached to all. We will be filing a report against this guy and have sent emails to the websites which he put a bad name towards and the realtor to inform him of the scam going on his house for sale. Like the other report had said, If it's too good to be true it probably is...