Convicted Low-Level Rent Scammer Pinched Again For Allegedly Ripping Off Prospective Tenant Out Of Upfront Lease Deposit On Home Facing Foreclosure

In Tamarac, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:

• An elderly couple turned to Craigslist to find a room to rent for an adult handicapped daughter, and discovered a Tamarac residence that was being leased by Wendy Richland. They paid Richland a $50 check and art worth $325 as a deposit, the Broward Sheriff's Office says, and the tenant was to move in to the home on the 8500 block of Northwest 83rd Street on Dec. 3.
  
  But on Dec. 1, Richland, 57, who lived in Boca Raton and had cashed the check, told the couple the deal was off, the Broward Sheriff's Office says. She declined to return the cash and claimed the art was a gift.
  
  Broward Sheriff's Detective Monica Jean arrested Richland on Jan. 2, and charged her with larceny of less than $10,000 from a person 65 or older, and violation of probation. Jean hopes to hear from others who may have attempted to rent the property.
  
  Richland's attorneys from previous court cases could not be reached for comment. She has served brief prison terms for forgery and grand theft convictions, a Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman said.
  
  In 2009, Jean arrested Richland and charged her with two counts of grand theft for taking rent deposits for the Tamarac property of $2,400 and $1,800 from two women.
  
  One of the victims found other tenants unpacking boxes before she could move in, and Richland told the second woman that she changed her mind and wasn't renting the house to her, according to complaint affidavits.
  
  In those cases, Richland received probation after pleading no contest, according to Broward County online court records.
  
  Richland's Tamarac property is in foreclosure, county records show. Jean asks anyone with information to call 954-720-2298.

Source: Tamarac landlord accused of cheating prospective tenants (Broward Sheriff's detective seeks other victims).