Long Island Man Accused Of Hijacking Homes In Foreclosure, Renting Them Out, Filing Over A Dozen Phony Liens Faces Jury Trial

In Suffolk County, New York, the Long Island Press reports:

• Home may be a man’s castle, but in Paul Salamone’s case, the entire fiefdom was allegedly fraudulent. The Medford man is facing a Suffolk County jury [...] after being accused of breaking into seven homes in various states of foreclosure and illegally renting some of them out in a scheme to capitalize on the failing local housing market.

• In his defense, his attorney points out that 28-year-old Salamone, who prosecutors say had renovated some of the vacant houses before he advertised them as for rent on Craigslist, truly believes what he was doing was right. Despite Salamone’s supposed good intentions, at least two families that rented from him were caught in the crossfire and evicted after the alleged scam began to unravel.

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• It took police several months to connect the dots. A grand jury had indicted Salamone on five counts of burglary, but two more counts were added when additional houses were discovered. He was also charged with grand larceny for the “rent” he received, and criminal possession of a forged instrument for filing more than a dozen fraudulent liens.

For more, see Local Man In the Doghouse In Housing Rental Scheme (Accused Fake Landlord goes to Trial in Suffolk).

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