Ex-Property Manager For Subsidized Housing Complex Gets Pinched For Allegedly Ripping Off Section 8 Tenants For Over $13K In Under-The Table Rent Overcharges

In Altoona, Pennsylvania, the Altoona Mirror reports:

• A Duncansville man will face charges in Blair County Court that he overcharged some tenants of a subsidized housing complex he once managed.
  
  Lance P. Conway, 38, [...], appeared in Tyrone District Court [] where he waived charges of felony theft by deception and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds stemming from his tenure as manager of the Tyrone Townhouses.
  
  According to police, Conway overcharged some residents and applied the overpayments to other residents, a scheme that was uncovered when Conway was off work and another employee of Crossgates Management Inc., which oversees operations of the subsidized housing complex in Tyrone, filled in on July 13, 2013.
  
  Police said a tenant stopped in at the office to have her Pennsylvania Department of Welfare rent verified and told the fill-in manager she had been paying $187 per month in rent for the past two years. The fill-in manager reviewed the woman’s file through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and discovered her required monthly rent was $99 each month in April and May of 2012 and then $33 per month from June 2012 until July 2013.
  
  Police said Conway overcharged the woman $2,332 in rent and after an audit of its accounts, the management company found Conway had overcharged various tenants $13,225 between April 2012 and July 2013.
  
  The overpaid money was then applied to various other tenants without their knowledge.
  
  When confronted by Tyrone police in November 2015, Conway allegedly admitted he misappropriated money but denied ever taking money for himself. Conway told police there was extraordinary pressure on managers to ensure tenants paid their rent on time so he started charging some tenants more and then applied the extra money to other tenants’ accounts.
  
  Police said they suspect Conway stole additional money from tenants who paid cash, a charge Conway denied.

For the story, see Housing manager facing charges. side payments