One renter took to TikTok to issue an important PSA after her experience with a property rental company went awry.
In a viral video that has racked up over 2.2 million views and over 200,000 likes as of Monday, user Pami (@sickaf777) explained how she got caught up in the scam that decimated her new apartment.
”BEWARE OF SCAMMERS!” the text overlaid on the video warned. “ZIPRENT IS NOT SAFE. WHOLE APARTMENT WAS ROBBED.”
The Bay Area woman spoke through tears as she explained what happened.
“So my new apartment that I’ve had for five days,” she began in the clip. “I had my bed and stuff here.”
She then walked through the apartment, showing off its rooms and the lack of belongings and furniture to viewers.
“Robbed,” she said. “They left my f*cking plants.”
Pami appeared to be very upset about the incident and said she didn’t know what to do in the wake of the robbery. She also claimed to have signed a lease with the apartment’s homeowner. Her rent was supposed to be $875 per month.
“Tell me why I just got off the phone with the homeowner and he told me, ‘Sorry, I’m not the homeowner?'” she asked.
The woman said the person she believed was the “homeowner” hung up the phone on her when she called to question him about her missing things.
She was especially disturbed by the theft because important documents were also taken.
@sickaf777 Im completely hearbroken. This doesnt feel real. I feel like im living a bad dream. I made my first gofundme today in my bio if anyone wants to help me get back on my feet. Anything helps. #apartmentscams #scams #scammers #robbed #robbery #fakeapartment #bewareofscams #ziprent #ziprentsucks #apartmenthunting #fakeowners #fyp #trending #viral #fypシ #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Pami
“My citizenship, my paychecks, my personal information, all my papers,” she lamented.
She alleged the thieves also stole childhood toys, photos, and “everything you could imagine.”
“Don’t rent from f*cking Ziprent,” she urged.
Ziprent is a “full-service property management company” that currently offers services in various states including California, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Nevada, and Arizona.
According to the company’s website, the platform offers the “highest level of property monetization, maintenance, and utilization at the lowest possible cost.” The company offers its property management services at $125 per month.
In the comments section, other TikTok users felt bad for the woman and offered tips for getting her things back.
“$875 a month should have been your first red flag… that’s way to cheap. I’m so sorry girl I hope you get your stuff back,” user Erin Pastula wrote.
“Check local dumpsters they probably threw anything non valuable away like your important papers,” user Scooby4lfe said. “I feel so bad for you.”
“Call your renters insurance agency!!” another user added.
The Daily Dot reached out to Ziprent via email and Pami via TikTok comment for comment and more information.
Update 8:06am CT, Mar. 8, 2024:
According to a representative of Ziprent, as of Mar. 4, Pamela’s belongings have been returned to her.
“We believe that Pamela was the victim of a Craigslist scam that led her to believe she was legally leasing a property that we manage on behalf of the owner,” the representative said. “Once we were alerted that someone had obtained access and moved into the property without authorization, we followed protocol to secure the property. We moved the belongings to a storage unit for safekeeping. As soon as we found out the owner of these belongings (TT user “Pami”), we moved quickly to return her belongings, which we did less than 48 hours later. “