CLAYTON COUNTY, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
Engaged couple Jesse Stroud and Yolanda McCoy were looking for a house they could rent and turn into home.
That's when they found the house on Welch Court in Jonesboro.
"There was a sign posted in the yard that had a handwritten phone number on it - called the number, the next day the guy came out and showed us the property," Stroud said.
Stroud said that man told the couple his name was Charles Rayburn Smith Jr.
That name matched up with the name of the property's homeowner when they searched online records, so they didn't worry.
"We didn't have any cause at that point to think that there was anything fraudulent," Stroud said.
His fiancé signed a one-year lease with Smith that began on August 3.
After living in the home for a month, buying nearly $3,000 in appliances and adding new fixtures, the couple got a knock on their door on the evening of September 13.
Clayton County police said they got a complaint from the owner of the home who said there were people living in the house and it should have been vacant.
That owner's name is listed on the Clayton County police report as Charles Rayburn Smith - with no "junior" suffix.
The couple were kicked off of the property, McCoy was arrested and charged with burglary and criminal trespass.
In a statement to police, she said she "had been looking for a home to rent for over a year" and that she had "moved into the home in the middle of August and that it had been vacant for at least 18 months." Police reported that she "further advised that the door was unlocked when she arrived."
Stroud said police refused to look at a copy of the lease, but instead, helped Smith get into the home because his keys were not working.
"None of his keys opened the locks on the front door," Stroud said. "The (officer) then entered the home, went into my fiancé's purse, tried keys on her keychain until he found a key that opened the lock, took the key off of her chain and gave it to the alleged owner of the home."
While the names may be similar, Stroud insisted that the man who showed up to talk to police was not the same man they met when trying to rent the home.
"He was not the Charles Rayburn Smith Jr. that we signed the lease with," Stroud said.
Stroud said that as he was told to leave the property, he made an appointment with Smith to come back a few days later to get his belongings. But Stroud said he got a text from Smith that morning to the contrary.
"Do not return to the house," the text read. "Do not contact me again. Handle any further correspondence through the court system. If you go to the house you will be prosecuted."
Clayton County police are now investigating the situation.
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