To relief of craiglist devotees, NYC real estate fiends, and people who believe in the social contract, the police have arrested a pair of people scamming unwitting, hopeful Manahttan renters out of thousands of dollars. Fredrick Forino and his girlfriend posed as brokers for apartments in the West Village, advertising the alleged spaces on craiglist, and then took cash and checks from people who thought that they had landed their dream apartments. Some of the apartments were available for rent, but not by Forino. The police told the NY Times "one victim met Mr. Forino in a Starbucks and handed him $1,900" in cash. Now, Curbed notes one person (who lives in one of buildings that Forino claimed he had listing for) as saying, "Who does that? Who cuts a check unless you have your contract in hand? That's elementary," but to Gothamist, it seems that it just further shows how crazy that NYC real estate market is. People do desperate things for the perfect place, like not blink an eye at brokers' fees or willing to put down a year's rent. That said, we're glad that Craig Newmark spends time looking for scams on his sites, but it's true - it's all about caveat emptor. And knowing someone else who knows someone who might be leaving their apartment.
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