Fake Landlord Rents Appealing Apartment - Several Times After Collecting Deposit, Smooth Talker Disappears

It seemed like Norman Rockwell for the ‘90s: A quiet neighborhood, an affordable apartment in an older home in a Seattle suburb, all within walking distance from a park. So Julie and Jesse Kincaid eagerly put $575 down for the deposit and first month’s rent.

So did at least 12 other people. And on Labor Day, they all were ready to move in. The only problem was the man who claimed to be the landlord had disappeared, and the apartment they thought they had rented was owned by someone else. He had never heard of them.

He has now.

David Elmore was stunned when the Kincaids called to tell him they had rented one of his four apartments in an older home in Kent, about 20 miles southeast of Seattle.

Elmore, who lives in another city, didn’t have any vacancies. The renter in the apartment the Kincaids put their money on had not given notice and had been living there with his 2-year-old son since July 1.

When Elmore checked, he was surprised to learn the man had moved out and shocked to learn the man, without authorization, allegedly had placed an ad, posed as the landlord, rented the apartment at least 12 times and then vanished with an estimated $4,300.

“This guy is a smooth talking, cool walking … type of guy,” Elmore said. And according to the victims, he spun tales of neighborhood bliss that were more fantasy than fact.

“He said the house used to be his parents’ house and after they died he and his brother turned the house into apartments,” Jesse Kincaid said. “He said he knew the neighbors and they had yard sales once a week they organized together. … Just a lot of stories with a lot of details.”

When the Kincaids initially called about the ad, there were so many people responding to it, they had difficulty getting an appointment with the man. And when they went to look at the apartment, the man was mowing the lawn.

What distresses Elmore is that the people who lost money in the scam were people who could least afford it.

The Kincaids and their 4-month-old daughter, Claire, were looking for an affordable home so Jesse could go to medical school. Some victims were from out-of-state and read the ad through the Internet.

Eighteen-year-old David Armstrong from Alaska paid $200 for a deposit and $325 for rent, hoping to be settled by the time the quarter began at Cornish College where he planned to study graphic arts. Although his tuition is paid, the $525 he lost was all the housing money he had, and he will have to postpone starting college, a family friend said.

Elmore said that during one telephone conversation he had with a victim, he “heard crying in the background. The $200 they gave him was everything they had.”

Kent police are investigating, Officer Paul Petersen confirmed. He said the number of victims may continue to grow. In such cases, “there can be 10 victims or a couple of hundred, depending on whether or not (the ad) says it’s a deal of a lifetime,” he said.

Several of the victims said police told them the man was a suspect in two similar scams in Des Moines, Wash.

Meanwhile, Elmore has rented the apartment to one of the victims.

He’s also learned that the man, who claimed to be a fish broker in Alaska, had actually called from King County Jail when he inquired about the apartment. And court records show that over the past few years the man has been charged with robbery, check fraud, theft and harassment.

Tuesday, the Kincaids stopped by the apartment. A cat slept on the front porch next to a stack of new phone books and three days’ worth of newspapers.

“I bet those are ours,” Jesse Kincaid said, retrieving the newspapers.

The Kincaids had started newspaper service, reserved a U-Haul truck for moving, forwarded their mail, notified the University of Washington Medical School, ordered a phone and changed the electrical billing.

They’ve since found another apartment and must make the changes all over again.

“I just want people to know that such scams exist so he can’t do it again,” Julie said. “He had all the moves down.”