More victims emerge in alleged house rental scam

By David Ibata

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Investigators have uncovered 19 cases of people who allegedly were duped into leasing homes from a man who had no right to rent them out, and there could be hundreds of victims in the metro Atlanta area, Channel 2 Action News reports.

John Eugene Harris is being held in Cobb County Jail on $200,000 bond on burglary, theft by deception and forgery charges. The 44-year-old Smyrna man is accused of having acted through his company, New Life Granted, as leasing agent for the vacant residences.

Harris has been active in seven counties, allegedly breaking into homes, changing the locks and leasing the dwellings to unsuspecting families – collecting thousands of dollars in security deposits and rents that don’t rightfully belong to him, Channel 2 reported.

“During the course of our investigation, we have discovered properties throughout the metro area and believe that there are going to be possibly hundreds of victims,” Cobb County police Sgt. Larry White told Channel 2.

Besides Cobb County, victims have turned up in Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry,  Clayton and Carroll counties.

Krystal Toney, for example, said in a phone interview with the AJC on Friday evening that she and her husband, Matthew, had rented a house from Harris in Carrollton.

She said she had learned about the house through a Facebook classified advertisement. When she visited, there was a lockbox on the front door – just like a bonafide real estate listing. She got a tour of the home from a woman, liked what she saw and later met with Harris at a local restaurant to sign the rental agreement.

“He told met to send him a list of repairs, and he’d fix everything up before we moved in Nov. 1,” Toney said. “I paid (Harris) $1,800 for the first month and the deposit. Saturday, we were supposed to have met up to get the keys to move in, and I never could get in touch with him. That’s when I Googled his name and found out he’s in jail.”

Toney now knows that the home’s actual owner is SunTrust Bank, which foreclosed on the residence Sept. 23.

“We’ll try to find another place to go to and try to raise more money,” Toney said. “It took us scrimping and saving to come up with the money to move. Now we’re out of that money.”

Another victim, Kimber Taylor, thought that it was odd someone with New Life Granted came by twice to change the locks on the Austell home she’s leased from the company since August. Then, this week, she got a phone call from Bank of America.

“I didn't know about the house being in foreclosure,” Taylor told Channel 2.

Jennifer O’Hara told the TV station that she has paid Harris $6,500 – money she now knows she may never get back on the house she rented in Acworth.

“I’m disgusted,” she said. “This man has my security deposit. I’ve been paying rent for a house that is not even his.”

Cobb County police said more arrests are possible. They asked anyone with a lease agreement with New Life Granted to call them.