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James Rodney Sims Sublet Scammer Los Angeles California
My boyfriend and I tried to sublet this guy's apartment for the month of March 2016. We had just moved to LA from New York City, and were doing the sublet thing before settling on a permanent place. We liked the craigslist ad he had put up, so we contacted him to see the apartment.
When we met him, he seemed cool, and we saw the apartment -- it looked great and was just as the ad had described. We set up a time a day or so later to sign a sublet agreement and make a deposit.
I met him in the apartment again to sign the agreement, and this time his roommate, Daniel Ray Jolliff, was also there. There were also a few other people hanging around that James said were temporarily "crashing" at the place but would be gone when we moved in. Although this seemed potentially annoying, it wasn't exactly suspicious.
I read over the sublet agreement, it seemed fine (and I foolishly felt that by having that document, nothing bad could happen), and I paid him the month up front of $1100 via Venmo. He said he needed to pay the month's rent before we moved in. We agreed I would pay him the rest, a half month security deposit of $550, when he handed over the keys.
So exactly one day before we were supposed to move in, Feb 28th, James called me and said that something came up and that he could no longer sublet. He said that his landlord had found out about the sublet situation and was threatening to evict him if anyone other than himself were living in his room.
He also claimed that he was in the process of suing his landlord because they had not followed through on some amenities promised to him as a tenant. He said he was sure the landlord was pissed at him for threatening legal action and was probably just trying to get back at him.
OKAY FINE. I asked him to Venmo me back the money ASAP. He said of course, and that he just had to deposit some checks at the bank that night. Naturally, he did not Venmo me the money back.
Every day was another excuse. He always sounded really apologetic and his excuses were very detailed so I chose to believe him for a few days. Then he said that his bank account was closed because someone had accused him of fraud. But get this: he was claiming to be the victim, that he had sent them an item that they paid for but they claimed they never received it. He said they were lying.
Anyway, whatever. He sent me a picture of a letter from his bank proving that his account was closed for an investigation. An investigation he claimed they said could take anywhere from 5-40 business days!!! Then he sent a screenshot from his mobile banking app showing that his account was closed. Weird that he would go through such efforts to prove that he wasn't lying.
From these documents I was provided with his full name James Rodney Sims (I had only known him as James Sims up until this point), when I googled him and found out that many other people had been scammed by him. I feel lucky that he didn't do it to us AFTER we had already moved in, like it seems he has with some of his other victims. I can't imagine being kicked out of an apartment like that.
He stopped contacting me with excuses after about a week, and he hasn't responded to any of my messages since. This guy is good at what he does. I was born and raised in New York City, and I do not easily fall for bullshit. He knows how to get what he needs.
BE CAREFUL PEOPLE. DO NOT TRUST HIM. I wouldn't trust the roommate Daniel Jolliff either, it seems like he may have known what was going on. I see that James is still trying to sublet his place on Craigslist as recently as March 29th. Unbelievable. https://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/sub/5514044507.html
He was also just sentenced to TWO YEARS PROBATION on March 21st for another one of his apparently multiple fraudulent crimes. https://www.justice.gov/usao-edok/pr/douglasville-ga-man-sentenced-24-months-probation-possession-counterfeit-access-devices
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Ervin
Los angeles,California,
USA
Sounds like b*******
#3Consumer Comment
Mon, April 18, 2016
I have rented from this guy. My friend and I moved from North Carolina. We rented for a month, he let us stay, gave us okd clothing, even paid for some of out food and drinks. He also gave me a 22" TV that he had. We paid $2000 for a month and $1000 was for a security deposit. My friend and I could not afford a place to move to so instead of giving us the deposit back we asked if we could stay an extra month and he said it was fine. We didnt pay for utilities and tge place was furnished i would say he was more than gracious. His landlord did complain about subletting bc i was in his living room when she did. He also rented his room to the lead singer of Until The Ribbon Breaks. A guy named pete. I witnessed him pay the man back his security deposit even though Pete lost his keys which he would have to pay for. I know from his former roommate that a scam artist tried to extort money out of him and his roommate. $500 which he paid himself bc i saw the moneygram reciept. His roommate Eric Lam showed up the guy who made the original post and his name is Michael Morris whick you can find here http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Michael-Morris-Marathon-Credit-Group/West-Hollywood-California-90048/Michael-Morris-Marathon-Credit-Group-60dayfilmfinancecom-SCAM-ARTIST-OF-THE-STARS-BIG-668432 Like i said idk this seems like bullshit to me. A poor attempt to tear down someone's name on a website that is widely known for extortion and scams. I googled the website itself and it isnt BBB accredited. In fact it has no accreditations. The website is a scam itself
Elmer
Los Angeles,California,
USA
Simple solution to stopping James Rodney Sims wannabe Actor Rental Scammer
#3Consumer Suggestion
Sun, April 10, 2016
He is currently on Federal Probation. That means he's not supposed to be commiting Crimes. If you file a Criminal theft report with your local Police Department and send a copy to his Federal Parole Officer, then I believe he would be in violation of his probation and hopefully do some jail time. There are numerous people who he has done this to. If we all file we can show a pattern and the judge can't ignore it even though his mom is also a Fed probation officer where he grew up in Douglasville, Ga. She can't protect him forever and he got an easy probation for snitching in testimony he gave against his friends / accomplices when caught with credit card cloning devices in the eastern division of Oklahoma https://www.justice.gov/usao-edok/pr/douglasville-ga-man-sentenced-24-months-probation-possession-counterfeit-access-devices Let's make sure this guy does the time he deserves. Scamming people for housing is one of the lowest things you can do to someone vulnerable. James Rodney Sims wannabe actor has his days numbered anywhere in LA at this point. It's just a matter of time until he crosses the wrong people but in the meantime we should all file criminal theft charges.