I had a very fishy interaction with a woman by the name of Joanne Miller of Miller-Properties. I was looking for apartment rentals and she had an offer on craig's list for a 2 bedroom home in the wonderful richland area (san marcos) this was a good deal, but not extraordinarily good. She said that she and her husband were the property managers, and that she couldn't give the exact address because they had had some previous vandalism on the property as it was currently vacant. She had me fill out a credit check form online which seemed really legitimate. She wanted this before giving me the address and before she could commit to showing me the property. It's this site, http://rent-verification.com/property00081/, she never called, only responded to my e-mails very late, even though she said that she was available all day. She never committed to showing me the property and after a week she said that she had rented to someone else, and the website no longer worked. It wasn't until the third day that I became suspicious, and nothing has shown up on my credit report so far (it's been about 6 months) I am monitoring it very closely just to make sure.)
This is the first e-mail that she sent me:
Hello,

I'm sorry I wasn't able to get back to you sooner! Things have been so hectic for me these last couple of days!

The good news is that the rental is still available! We had an offer from the first person we showed it to, but now it appears that they are changing their mind, so we need to start showing it again as soon as possible. You were the second one to email me about it.

It is the whole place that is for rent, and it's in pristine condition. We know a lot of prospective renters want to do a quick look of the property, but my husband doesn't want me to mass send out the address as a measure of safety. Last time we did that without verifying people, the empty property was broken into and vandalized. We don't want that to happen again! I CAN tell you that it's a very special property, that would normally rent for quite a bit more than other comparable properties in the neighborhood.

All utilities are connected and will be transferred into your name. You will be responsible for cable, internet, and phone, if you decide to have these services. Just to confirm, we DO allow pets at this property. The rental term is 12-month lease, but can be switched into a 6-month lease if preferred. We just ask that you give us fair notice if you are moving out.

If you would like to set up an appointment, go to the link below and request the free copy of your rental / credit report. We use this company for all the properties we manage. Just fill out the form and indicate that you want the free credit report. The actual scores on the report aren't important to us, it's more of a formality to have it on file, to make sure you are who you say you are.

Get your report here: http://rent-verification.com/property00081/

Remember, we only need to see the page about the rental history. That will be all you will need to bring with you to the showing.

As far as getting together to see the property goes, I am available to show it any time from 10:00 am on, for the next couple of days. Let me know when you've printed out your credit report, and we will set up a time to do your walk-through.

Thank you once again for your interest!

Joanne Miller

And her e-mail address is:
[email protected]
I hope that this is not a scam, and if it is that maybe this helps others.