CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — The Clay County Sheriff’s Office has opened a fraud investigation after an Orange Park woman said she was scammed out of what she thought was her new Middleburg home.
Melissa Antolik said she showed up last Sunday to move into the four-bedroom home in the Orange Park South neighborhood, with a set of house keys and a lease in her hand. Antolik told us her current lease at her Orange Park home ends on the last day of February, so she had been frantically working to have the money to put down on a new home for her fiancé, two kids, and two foster children.
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Antolik said she showed up to the new house and saw that the front door had been damaged. Assuming it was kicked in, she called the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. After they responded to investigate, Antolik said another family showed up at the house, with their own lease. Clay County deputies then told the two families that their leases were fake and the person who drafted them wasn’t the true owner of the house.
Antolik told us she spent around $3,400 on a deposit, moving fees, and utilities for the new home, only to find out that she had been scammed.
“I now have $41 to my name,” said Antolik, “it wiped me out.”
Antolik said she’s hardly had any sleep since not only finding out her lease was fake, but trying to process that she may not get her money back, while also working to find a new home days before her current lease ends.
“I’m trying to look for a place while I’m at work, while I’m off work, before work. I’m having people look for me. Panic is definitely there. I’m scared I’m not going to find something,” Antolik said.
Antolik found the Middleburg home on both Craigslist and Facebook. She said she had open communication with the person she thought was the homeowner and even got a chance to tour the house before moving in. Antolik said she showed the lease to multiple people before signing it, and all of them said it looked legitimate.
“I thought I found the perfect home to rent for my family. I gave this person everything I had to move in, and it broke me,” said Antolik.
Some local realtors, like Jennifer Gregory, have told us rental scams like these are becoming common, especially around northeast Florida.
“If it looks too good to be true, it probably is,” Gregory, a realtor at Coldwell Banker in Fleming Island, said, “anything that you find online, as far as Zillow or otherwise, it could still be a scam. I would definitely use your judgment.”
Gregory said there are always scam risks when looking at listings almost anywhere online. One online tool she recommended for prospective renters is called realMLS, provided by the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, which shows legitimate listings.
However, Gregory recommends always consulting a realtor when searching for a new home.
“It doesn’t cost you anything to use somebody who is going to look out for you,” Gregory said, “We can look over the lease. We can make sure that everything looks legitimate. We can look up the property and make sure that that person actually owns it.”
Antolik said she isn’t quite sure what the next steps will be, but is determined to find a housing solution for her family. If you would like to support them during this time, you can do so by clicking here.
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