A woman who preyed on apartment hunters by pretending to rent to them and then keeping their money was sentenced to two years in state prison Friday and ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution.
Rachael Marie Smith, 30, was sentenced after pleading guilty Aug. 29 to three counts of grand theft in a plea agreement. She was originally charged with 18 counts of grand theft, one for each victim she defrauded, according to prosecutors.
Smith, a tenant in an apartment on the 5300 block of California Street in San Francisco’s Richmond District, ran ads on Craigslist advertising the apartment for rent, although she was not legally entitled to do so. She listed the apartment as dog friendly, and most of her eventual victims were dog owners eager for an affordable apartment in San Francisco’s tight rental market, victims said.
Smith collected security deposits and first month’s rent from 18 people, each of whom gave her about $5,500. She then told the would-be renters the move-in date was changed, held them off with claims that her mother had cancer, and meanwhile continued to advertise the apartment and collect money from more people….[read more]
Read full article at http://www.ktvu.com/news/29620712/detail.html