In 2022, my husband and I received approval from our condo association to rent out our condo. I’m well aware there are a lot of real estate scams out there; I do my homework to try to avoid getting scammed. I pay for an account with RentRedi, a well-known service to screen applicants and receive rent payments.
Via Zillow, we receive an inquiry about the rental from Andre’ Scroggins. She says she’s moving to Atlanta for a Physician’s Assistant position with Wellstar in Atlanta. I hold a FaceTime call with her to show her the rental unit and get to know her. She was very nice on the call and says she loves the rental unit and will submit an application.
Andre’ Scroggins submits an application that includes a credit check, background check, paycheck stubs, offer letter from Wellstar, bank account statement, current landlord, etc. We call (voicemail) and emailed her current landlord who says that she’s been late with rent once.
Long story short, Andre’ Scroggins’ background check and credit check was identity fraud and the documentation was all Photoshopped.
Looking back, could we have asked more questions, asked for more documentation? Yes. Should I have asked for a zoom call with the previous landlord and asked to see a copy of the deed to his rental unit? Definitely.
Everything was fake, including her name. After the eviction, we find Andre’ Scroggins’ other names including Sade Morgan Cheatham, Lovely Barnes, Jasmine Nicole Williams.
Stops paying rent after 2 months
After living in my rental for 2 months, she changes her bank account to pay her rent via RentRedi. I start to see emails from RentRedi that say that her rent is paid, then “ACH Return” followed by an email 5 minutes later where her rent is paid again.
We reach out to RentRedi and ask what’s going on. RentRedi tells us that she changed her bank account info and the new account is frozen.
Not knowing she’s committed identity theft and she’s a con woman, I try to work things out and I set a date that she needs to pay by or start eviction proceedings. She agrees that she will pay by the date.
The date passes and I don’t have any payment; I contact a local eviction company called Evict Them For Me (ETFM). We start the legal process for eviction.
Eviction Timeline
October 30, 2022: ETFM sends a “demand letter” to the tenant via regular mail, certified mail, and email. This is a strongly worded letter telling Andre’ Scroggins(tenant) that they have until November 2 to pay rent or the eviction process will start.
November 3, 2022: Rent not received. ETFM files a Dispossessory Proceeding against the tenant (Andre’ Scroggins and all others).
November 11, 2022: Tenant is served the dispossessory. This means that an official document is attached to her door as the next step in the eviction process.
November 21, 2022: The tenant responds to the dispossessory. While the statements she makes to the court are 100% false, this means that we are now waiting for a court date with the Fulton County Magistrate Court. While I’m waiting for the court date, the tenant gets to live in my rental condo 100% completely rent-free. Legally, I cannot turn off her utilities or change the locks.
January 2, 2023: I’m notified that my court date is January 12.
January 12, 2023: I take 1/2 day off work to appear in court. I get in front of the judge only to find out that the tenant has filed for a continuance for medical reasons without any documentation. My attorney tries his best and says, “My client is here ready and willing to testify.” I leave the court with my situation completely unresolved.
January 13, 2023: My next court date is set for January 24 and the judge notes that a failure to appear in court without documentation will not be acceptable.
January 24, 2023: I take another 1/2 day from work to appear in court again. The tenant doesn’t show up for court. The judge rules “default judgment” which means that I won because she didn’t show up. The tenant cannot appeal and the standard 7-day waiting period to file a Writ of Possession (the next step in the eviction process) is waived. I won and I walk out of court with the paperwork.
January 27, 2023: ETFM files my Writ of Possession. A Writ of Possession allows the Marshal Service to forcibly remove my tenant, Andre’ Scroggins, and All Others, and all her possessions from my rental.
February 6, 2023: Our neighbors haven’t seen her in a week; We contact building management and ask for our key fob log. We live in an access-controlled building that requires a fob swipe to access any entry door to the building. They pull the log and the last time she used her fob was a week ago at 7 am. In fact, she used her fob 13 times between 5 am and 7 am on Monday, January 30, 2023. ETFM advises me to enter the apartment and see if she’s moved out. We go in and she has moved out. All of her food is in garbage bags now rotting in the kitchen.
There is a huge sectional / sofa in the living room. I pull up Aaron’s Rent to Own website and I see the same sofa. I call Aaron’s and I tell them my story. The manager at Aaron’s, Caesar, finds the sofa in his records under the name Sade Cheatham and another couch under the name Lovely Barnes. Sade and Lovely (we believe to be the same person) paid the minimum amount to rent-to-own from Aaron’s and then never made a payment.
Aaron’s repossesses their sofa!
Caesar tells me that she’s probably working in a small crime ring; I’ve given him a piece of the puzzle, and he’s going to report everything he found to Aaron’s Fraud department for them to go after her.
Andre’ Scroggins’ real name is Sade Morgan Cheatham
As we are sifting through the trash she left in my rental, we find a letter from the Social Security Department dated before she moved in. We believe Sade Morgan Cheatham is her real identity.
Sade Morgan Cheatham’s Journal
We also find her journal, which I have scanned (in its entirety here).
Here’s another interesting journal entry from Sade Cheatham.
It also looks like she drew wireframes for Jadah Dunyoh’s website. She mentions someone named Jadah multiple times in her journal (perhaps a boyfriend?).
Feel free to check out Sade’s journal in its entirety here.
Sade also left a fake driver’s license with the name Jasmine Nicole Williams. This fake driver’s license does not have a hologram.
Epilogue
I doubt I’ll ever get the $12,888 court judgment from Sade Cheatham/ Andre’ Scroggins / Jasmine Nicole Williams / Lovely Barnes. I’ve cleaned up the rental and listed it for rent with a real estate agent. This has been an important life lesson from an evil person. I will try harder to properly vet the next tenant. If you’re applying for a rental and the landlord asks for a lot of very sensitive documentation, this is probably why.
