Some Nova Scotia homeowners have been caught off guard after having people show up on their doorsteps eager to move into their homes.
Vanessa Childs Rolls of Sydney, N.S., returned from grocery shopping Saturday to find two international students on her doorstep and looking into her windows.
Childs Rolls was told the would-be renters had responded to an online advertisement, signed a fake lease and paid a deposit. The women were expecting to move into the George Street home within days.
“My husband actually told them, ‘Well, I’m very sorry, but you’re not renting this house because it’s not for rent,'” she said.
“They told him that they’d given their notice at their current apartment and that they had to move out in two days and they had nowhere to go.”
‘It wasn’t a good situation to be in,’ says homeowner
Childs Rolls said her family has lived at the property for 20 years, and has never once put it up for rent.
“They were not very happy. They looked distraught. So, it wasn’t a good situation to be in. It was very awkward and uncomfortable for us,” said Childs Rolls.
“That leads us to think what if come February 1st, other people show up at our house and try to move in? … We’re very nervous about what’s going to be going on in the next couple of days.”
Housing shortage
Nova Scotia is grappling with a housing shortage fuelled by a lack of supply and strong population growth, making the market ripe for fraud as people try to find housing. The Halifax area had a vacancy rate of…
