Arrest made in Rental Fraud Case
Jul 18th, 2009 by admin
Source: The St. Catharines Standard
A 45-year-old St. Catharines woman has been arrested and charged after someone rented out the same room to several people, taking their first and last month’s rent.
One tenant paid up to $1,700 to live in a Martindale Road home, and arrived ready to move in only to find several other people trying to move in too, Niagara Regional Police Det. Const. Mark McNeil said.
Police say several ads were posted online on websites such as Kijiji and Yahoo for rooms in homes on Martindale Road and Western Hill. Police believe there are at least six victims so far and that rooms were rented out at least four times.
Police allege the suspect was renting the homes from respected absentee landlords, and she in turn tried to sublet them.
“What she basically did is she subletted the thing out to death,” McNeil said.
By the time the tenant victims realized they had been duped, their cheques had been cashed and the suspect vanished.
The first ads were placed online in April, McNeil said. A police investigation began in May.
This type of rental fraud is common in big cities, but is fairly rare in Niagara, he said.
People need to be cautious when renting rooms, apartments or houses, McNeil said.
“They have got to use due diligence. Once they’re in a negotiation stage, they should take a look at the place and nail down the financial agreement, take a look at the lease. If there’s any questions, they should contact the landlord and tenant board.”
Dakota White — also known as Sandra Byrne– of St. Catharines was arrested Wednesday and charged with one count of fraud.
I am a landlord and have been for many years and I must admit it drives me mad when tenants do things like this. It’s about time our righte were protected, even though i think the term is a bit drastic. You have to learn one way or another
By the time the tenant victims realized they had been duped, their cheques had been cashed and the suspect vanished.
They have got to use due diligence. Once they’re in a negotiation stage, they should take a look at the place and nail down the financial agreement, take a look at the lease. If there’s any questions, they should contact the landlord and tenant board.”
They have got to use due diligence
they had been duped, their cheques had been cashed
This is a prime example of GREED….People these days will do anything for the dollar.
poor woman.. she’s trying to make a livin’ out of her apartment..
Once they’re in a negotiation stage, they should take a look at the place and nail down the financial agreement, take a look at the lease
Sad to hear of people being taken advantage of like this. I am glad they caught the person who did it though.
Thank You! Moving is so stressful and scary. I can not imagine the horror of being taken advantage of in this way!
Sadly, as long as there are humans in this world, people will find a new ways to scam people. I am glad these people got caught, most of the time they get away with it.