This archive report was first published on 28 June 2020.
On June 25, former KTN actress Ruth Maingi shared a disturbing experience of being conned twice while house hunting in Nairobi.
Maingi, who appeared in the popular soap opera 'Lies That Bind,' revealed that the first con occurred even before she saw the house she was paying for.
She had met a dubious landlord who showed her an advertisement for a small house in Hurlingham, which was going for Ksh6,500. The landlord told her that the house belonged to his daughter, who was leaving the country, and that she was free to use the fridge and table.
Maingi was handed a seemingly sensible deal, where she was to pay the deposit in advance and complete that month's rent when she moved into the house. However, when she asked for a lease agreement, the landlord told her that he did not need the money and just wanted the house to be vacant.
She was assured that the Servant's Quarter was hers, but when she went to view the house, the landlord disappeared, leaving her with no way to contact him.
In the second instance, Maingi was conned roughly Ksh6,000 from a man who posed as an agent of a Ksh75,000 rental she was eying. The agent showed her different houses, including a beautiful one that had everything, and promised to have the owner reduce the rental fee to Ksh28,000 if she paid him the agency fee instantly.
Maingi paid the money, but when she went to the house the following day, she found that the rent was Ksh75,000. The owners of the house told her that she had not engaged them, and when she tried to call the agent, he did not pick up.
Maingi advised Kenyans to take caution when purchasing or renting properties in Nairobi, saying that she had learned a valuable lesson from her experience.
