Tuesday, July 03, 2012

F'closed Landlord Faces Felony Charges For Continuing To Pocket Rent Payments From Former Tenants; One Victim Left Holding The Bag On Rent To Own Deal

In Delaware County, Pennsylvania, The Delco Daily Times reports:
  • A landlord who lost a majority of his nearly 200 rental properties to foreclosure is charged with stealing rent money from his former tenants.

  • Jeffrey S. Bobb, 44, of Cherry Hill, N.J., allegedly collected more than $10,000 in rent payments from several former tenants even though he no longer owned the properties, according to the affidavit of probable cause written by County Detective Matthew Cresta of the Economic Crimes Unit.

  • Bobb, owner of JSB Properties, Tross Associates and Chester Redevelopment Incorporate, owned and managed approximately 200 rental properties in Delaware County — the majority of which are now in foreclosure because of delinquent taxes or mortgage payments, the affidavit states.

  • One woman, who was represented by an attorney, entered into what she believed was a lease/purchase agreement with Bobb for a property on East 24th Street in Chester last October. She made several payments to Bobb totaling $5,920 before discovering the house was in foreclosure and he no longer had ownership of the property, according to the affidavit.

  • Bobb’s alleged scam came to light last July when a Marcus Hook police officer was called to investigate an incident in which the resident of a home on Yates Street made a rent payment to Bobb even though the property had been sold at a sheriff’s sale several months earlier.
***
  • Bobb was arraigned [] on charges including theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, misuse of communication facilities, all felonies, and related offenses. He was released on $20,000 unsecured bail.