Title: Houston Craigslist Scam Busted
1Houston Craigslist Scam Busted
- Authorities have arrested a Spring woman, her
husband and her mother in connection with a
sophisticated Craigslist home leasing scam.
Police say at least six families in Houston,
Pasadena and north Harris County fell victim to
the crime. - Investigators said Ariel Sustaita, 23, posted
rental ads on Craigslist for homes she didnt
own, and then secured keys to the houses from the
inspection company where she used to work. Some
of the victims even moved in and paid her for
several months rent. - Deputies also arrested Sustaita's mother, Flora
Sustaita, 39, and Ariel Sustaita's husband,
Gabriel Jimenez, 20. They say additional arrests
are likely. - Assistant Chief Mark Herman, with Harris County
Constable Precinct 4, said Ariel Sustaita was
able to change the locks on a majority of the
houses, placing her own lockboxes on the doors. - The scheme unraveled when one victim called
investigators and they set up a sting. He agreed
to meet Sustaita at a coffee shop to pay rent.
When she arrived, constables arrested her and
charged her with felony theft. She is being held
on 20,000 bond.
2HAR Tool of the Week
- InstantCMA
- By preparing an impressive and accurate
comparative market analysis (CMA) for your
clients, you develop your marketplace knowledge
and your assurance in your pricing
recommendations. That knowledge and certainty
will instill client confidence and wise
decision-making. In order to help you provide a
comprehensive CMA for your clients in a matter of
minutes, HAR has developed InstantCMA for desktop
and mobile use. InstantCMA allows you to quickly
and efficiently create a comparative market
analysis for your clients from a desktop or
mobile device.
- Generate professional and sleek PDFs with
side-by-side comparisons photos - Easy design with more consumer-friendly details
- Share reports with your clients on Facebook,
other social media outlets, or by providing a QR
code - For more information, go to http//www.har.com/ins
tantcma/
3Weekly HAR Market Stat
So far this summer, housing has achieved a soft,
warm glow. If healing growth in the economy and
labor markets persists, housing will be more than
ready to weather tapering Fed activity
regardless of when it comes. Both local and
national market indicators can't yet contradict
any confidence in rising home prices or dwindling
inventory supplies. Heres whats happening in
Houston In the Houston region, for the
week ending August 18 New Listings increased
14.9 to 2,145 Pending Sales increased 30.4 to
1,835 Closed Sales increased 7.7 to 1,647
4Open Your Mind to Learning
Broker Responsibility The purpose of this course
is to address the regulatory aspects of the
management, operation and supervision of a real
estate brokerage firm in Texas. This course
provides an understanding and working knowledge
of the law of agency, planning and organization
of business entities, requirements for written
policies and procedures, records retention and
control, advertising, recruitment and training of
agents, and the anatomy of a complaint filed with
Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC).
Date Friday, September 13 Time 830 a.m.
330 p.m. Location HAR Central Investment 50
Date Friday, September 6 Time 830 a.m.
330 p.m. Location HAR Montgomery Investment
50
Questions? 713-629-1900 ext. 6
Register at www.har.com/edu