After being the target of rental scams, one woman is still searching for a place to live in Kelowna.
Christina Harwood-Jones has been searching for a rental for months, to better service her epilepsy.
The Greenwood resident is unable to work because of her condition and has been taking the Greyhound for trials at Kelowna General Hospital. Her hope is to extend her life by being closer to treatment.
After also being the target of rental scams in her search to find housing and is warning the public after finding advertisements for rentals on free sites like Craigslist and Kijiji that turned out to be false.
“I emailed a couple of them… he sent me pictures of himself, he sent me pictures of whatever, him and his dad. He could’ve taken this off of anything though,” she said.
Friends of hers drove by the suspected scam house, located on Sadler Road.
They said it was a nice looking house, said Harwood-Jones.
The rental ad is listed as a three-bedroom house with a heated workshop for $1,300, including utilities.
The price and size of the house seemed unrealistic to Harwood-Jones, so she contacted Remax Kelowna and the RCMP
The advertiser also repeatedly asked her for a damage deposit, which she refused to pay.
The RCMP told her there was nothing they could do.
Harwood-Jones pointed to other issues she’s facing in Kelowna’s low-vacancy rental market, which has added stress to her situation.
She was hoping to find housing before January, with her significant other Lyndon Lee and her two children, but with Kelowna’s vacancy rates being some of the lowest in the country, it has been difficult.
“The hospital in Grand Forks can’t deal with me,” she said. “I’m basically moving here so I can have an extended life because I have two children.”
Read the full story over at Kelowna Capital News.
