MELBOURNE, Fla. – With affordable housing increasingly out of reach, tiny homes have surged in popularity – and so has tiny house fraud. A News 6 investigation found scammers are stealing images from a local manufacturer and using them to swindle prospective homebuyers out of thousands of dollars.
At Movable Roots in Melbourne, workers have been building custom modular homes for a decade. Now, crooks are trying to cash in on that success.
“They’re taking advantage of people not doing their due diligence,” said Mike Cheatham of Movable Roots.
Fake listings, real losses
Dozens of ads for tiny homes appear on Facebook Marketplace, and Cheatham says photos of Movable Roots’ custom builds are showing up there – and on fake websites – at rock-bottom prices.,
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