Oregon Man Pinched On Suspicion Of Hijacking Possession Of Vacant Foreclosures, Then Pocketing Cash From Subsequent Rentals; Suspect Allegedly Used Online Craigslist Ads To Reel In Unwitting Tenants

In Sherwood, Oregon, KPTV Channel 12 reports:

• If 40-year-old Jason Dimicelli is your landlord, deputies want to hear from you. Lincoln County deputies say he is responsible for a Craigslist scam that has put renters in multiple counties out of their homes.
  
  Dimicelli was arrested in May for renting out a Newport home without the owner's permission. Further investigation has linked Dimicelli to residential properties in Lincoln, Clatsop, Yamhill and Washington counties.
  
  In Sherwood, Shelly Taylor believes she was a victim of the scam. She had been renting a home there from Dimicelli for only two weeks when she started noticing red flags – the home had no smoke detectors, and basic maintenance had been neglected. Further research showed the home was actually bank-owned.

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• Although she only actually lived there two weeks, Taylor says she had already paid Dimicelli $2,000 and done hundreds more in upgrades to the home – including replacing the missing smoke detectors. Now Taylor says she is out the money, and out of a place to rent.
  
  Deputies say many of the homes in the investigation were either in foreclosure or bank-owned. They are currently investigating how their suspect was able to get into the homes and change the locks.

For the story, see Deputies: Lincoln City man rented out homes without owner's knowledge.