This floored me. I mean I know identity theft and crime in general go on every day but stealing a house and selling it?!
Takes a lot of nerve and sheesh, like nobody would know? [img]tongue.gif[/img]
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Ohio man accused of stealing house
Associated Press
Last updated: 9:16 p.m., Monday, February 7, 2005
SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Police accuse a man of stealing a house, after another man returned to his parents' home following his widowed mother's funeral and found someone living there.
Jon Thomas, 54, said the house in this Cleveland suburb was shuttered when his parents moved to an assisted living center in 2000.
Now living in New York City, he returned with his wife and teenage son two days before Christmas 2003 and saw lights shining inside, cars parked in the back and an elaborate Christmas display on the lawn.
"I was dumbfounded," he said.
Rather than confront the occupants, the Thomases went to police in this upscale community of winding, tree-lined boulevards.
"We've never had a case like this here before," said police Chief Walter Ugrinic.
After a year of tracing property transactions and rental agreements, police arrested Richard Lenard, 26, of nearby Richmond Heights, on a charge of grand theft.
Police accuse Lenard of stealing the house, which Thomas says is worth $300,000, and its contents. Thomas says Lenard allegedly sold $180,000 worth of furnishings in two 2003 estate sales.
Thomas has sued Lenard for compensation. He also has asked a probate court to return ownership of the home to him.
The four-bedroom house is currently in the name of Tara Vaden Williams, who bought the house from Lenard in May 2004, for $50,000, according to county records.
Lenard was released from jail last week after posting 10 percent of a $25,000 bond.
Lenard could not be reached for comment. A message seeking comment was left Monday at his phone number listed in court records. The only directory assistance listing under his name in the Cleveland area has been disconnected.
"There's no question that a fraud occurred," said Lenard's attorney, Jeffrey Saffold. "The question is whether Mr. Lenard was a willful participant or an unknowing victim of the fraud."
Lenard lived with his grandmother across the street from the Thomases in 2000, their son said.
Jon Thomas said he stayed in a hotel when he visited Percy and Regina Thomas at the assisted-living center because he thought their house was closed up. Percy Thomas died in 2000, his wife died three years later.
In November 2002, Lenard accompanied a woman who called herself Regina Thomas' daughter, Helen Thomas, to the Cuyahoga County recorder's office, where she presented a New York driver's license and a letter stating she had power of attorney for Regina Thomas, said Jon Thomas' lawyer, Dean Boland.
Jon Thomas, an only child, said the recorder's office accepted the documents and allowed the woman identified as Helen Thomas to sell the home for $25,000 to AMI Financial LLC, a security commodity brokerage whose registered agent is Lenard.
"To transfer the deed to a home based on a fake New York driver's license and a forged power of attorney, I find that unbelievable," Thomas said.
Williams could not be reached for comment Monday. Calls to the phone listed under her name at the disputed address went unanswered Monday.