Single mom scammed with fake lease

ELLENWOOD, Ga. - Jessica Kimbrough thought an Ellenwood house was the perfect place for her kids to grow up, but days after getting the keys, a property manager told her the lease she had was fake and that she and her kids had to leave.

"It had the perfect backyard, the perfect kitchen, it was just perfect," said Kimbrough. 

When she got approval to lease the home for her and her twin 9-year-olds, Kimbrough was ecstatic.

She connected online with a woman who claimed to be the realtor representing the homeowner. "We did a walkthrough, went through a checklist, and she provided me with a lease and a deed," said Kimbrough.

When she got the keys, the mother handed over a deposit and rent, totaling $2,200.

"She led me to believe she was very professional," said Kimbrough.

But Kimbrough soon got a call from the real property manager saying her lease was fake.

"Immediately we figured out we had just been scammed," she said.

Kimbrough says the woman stopped answering her calls, so she filed a report with Clayton County Police.

"She took our money and left us out in the cold with nothing," said the single mom.

Then, the management company told the family someone else already leased the home. 

Kimbrough says she would leave if she could, but she can't afford to move since she gave her savings to the woman claiming to represent the property.

She's just hoping she can get her money back and find a new home before she and her kids are forced out on the streets.

"I have to make people aware because she definitely seemed real," said Kimbrough. "She showed me she was a real estate agent, and it's cold, it's the holidays, and I want to make people aware to go through a rental company not a private owner because you don't know their intentions."

The family is hoping they can somehow get their money back—but in the meantime, they've put together a Go Fund Me to get the money together to find another house. You can help them here.