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
James Rodney Sims Reviews
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
Looking to talk more about those victimized by James Rodney Sims
Thank you to whoever posted the above. Would you be willing to talk more about what happened to you? Please email rockripeplay at gmail dot com