Police Say a Jacksonville Woman Earned Thousands by Renting Out Homes She Didn't Own. How to Avoid Fake-Landlord Scams.

Image Source: News4JAX (WJXT)

A Jacksonville woman is facing multiple criminal charges after investigators say she spent years posing as a landlord and collecting rent and deposits for homes she had no authority to lease, News4JAX (WJXT) reported.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office arrested Saderria Johnson on multiple warrants tied to what police describe as a long-running rental scam that targeted people hunting for affordable housing on Facebook Marketplace. The arrest followed a News4JAX I-TEAM investigation months earlier into similar scams that left local families out thousands of dollars and without a home.

How the scam worked

According to police, Johnson advertised real homes for rent online at prices well below market value. The houses existed, but investigators say she did not own or manage them. Instead, she allegedly copied photos and details from legitimate listings and presented herself as the landlord. Several victims paid deposits and rent directly to her, and police say some families even moved in before discovering they had been scammed. One victim paid Johnson more than $1,000 before moving into a home with a partner and child, only to learn later they had been defrauded.

The below-market price is usually the first tell. AJ Fuller, a leasing manager at JWB Real Estate, whose company owned four of the homes allegedly rented fraudulently, put it plainly. "If we're trying to rent the home for, let's say, $1,500 a month, you might see it listed for $700 or $800, just ridiculously low," Fuller said.

The self-tour lockbox trick

The most alarming detail is how Johnson allegedly got inside. Fuller said she booked legitimate self-guided tours through JWB's digital lockbox system while posing as a prospective tenant. "If everything checks out, it looks like you are the person that's doing it, we will give you access to the home," Fuller explained. "In this particular instance, the young lady that was arrested this week was using her own information up front, acting like the prospect." Once inside, investigators say she showed the homes to victims, took their money, and claimed she could lease the properties. It is the same tactic seen in other cities, where scammers abuse self-tour access codes meant for buyers to make a fake rental look real.

Know what the rent should be

One of the simplest defenses is knowing the local market before a listing reels you in. The median rent in Jacksonville is about $1,596, with a three-bedroom running near $2,114. So a whole house advertised at $700 or $800, as Fuller described, is roughly half the going rate, and that gap is the loudest warning there is. When a deal looks too good, treat the price itself as the red flag.

How to protect yourself

Fuller's advice was blunt: "I would just say validate and keep validating. Even if you think you're validating too much, just keep validating to protect your money." In practice, that means a few concrete steps.

Verify who owns it. Check county property records or call the listed brokerage directly. Note that a company like JWB advertises on Facebook, but never through a personal profile.

Never pay before a signed lease and verified identity. Zelle, wires, and gift cards are effectively unrecoverable. Use a traceable method and never send money to someone you have not confirmed.

Insist on an in-person or agent-led showing. A self-tour code or a remote let-in is exactly how these scams gain credibility.

Reverse-image-search the photos. Copied listings show up elsewhere at a different price and contact.

For the full checklist, read our guide on how to spot a rental scam before you lose a deposit, plus the listing red flags and landlord red flags worth knowing before you sign. Anyone targeted should report it to local police and the Federal Trade Commission.

Sources

Reporting, arrest details, and quotes: News4JAX (WJXT), JSO says woman used Facebook Marketplace to pocket thousands on rental scams (July 2026). Scam-avoidance guidance: Federal Trade Commission, Rental Listing Scams. Rent figures: RentDataNow, June 2026, anchored to the Zillow Observed Rent Index.