I saved for 2 years to finally buy my home – I only learned I still didn’t own it with an eviction letter 2 months later

A WOMAN who saved for two years to buy her dream home was left scratching her head when she received an eviction notice a few weeks later.

June Walker, 65, was elated to finally nab the keys to the $15,000 Detroit, Michigan, property after setting aside most of her disability check and spending years living rough on the streets.

The pensioner moved into the space in 2019 and quickly made it her own.

In April 2021, she made her final payment on the rent-to-own lease, but was hit with a heartbreaking letter - informing June that the home was not hers.

“It had to be a mistake,” she said to NBC News.

“I had purchased the house. I had every receipt.

"I had the lease.

"You know, I’m 65 and you send people stuff like that they’re liable to have a heart attack.” 

It turns out that the man who had negotiated her lease was not her property manager but rather a scammer.

“A good portion of clients will say they had no idea who they were supposed to be paying,” Donovan McCarty, an attorney with the nonprofit Michigan Legal Services, told NBC News.

According to real estate lawyers and housing advocates, one in 10 individuals facing eviction are victims of rental scams.

However, the culprits seldom face justice.

“People have gotten away with this stuff for years and years and years, and they do it because there’s no penalty for it,” said Ted Phillips, a Detroit housing lawyer, who revealed his cases have been dismissed by prosecutors because of a lack of evidence.

Cops are also trying to sniff out swindlers, but they are "very complex," often employing fake names and numbers that make it difficult to construct a case.

“We’re doing everything we can to hold these individuals accountable,” said police captain Gerry Johnson Jr.

However, June's nightmare came to an end in April 2022 when an agreement filed in Detroit’s 36th District housing court blocked the eviction.

Boccafe LLC - a Florida-based real estate company - agreed to sell June the home for $45,000 thanks to a donation from an unnamed individual who read about her case.

“I’m elated,” June said.

“Hopefully this will open doors or help other people who are going through this or keep them from going through something like this.”

June reported her scam to cops in November 2021, and police recently filed paperwork with the Wayne County prosecutor’s office to issue an arrest warrant, according to a police spokesman.

A spokeswoman for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the warrant was being reviewed and declined to comment further.