Here's another nightmare to watch out for when renting an apartment: The kindly man or woman ostensibly employed by a management company might just be pocketing your rent check, leaving you to get evicted in short order.
Such was the case with Thomas Ome, also known as Thomas Prince, who allegedly screwed over quite a few people by telling them to make their rent checks out to his name, instead of the company that employed him as an agent. Unsurprisingly, that money was not seen again.
Thomas Ome, aka Thomas Prince
One of Ome's alleged victims, who asked to be identified only as Tina, only found out she'd been sending her rent checks to a grifter after she was suddenly unable to get ahold of him. Tina's ordeal began in November, when she moved into an apartment on 139th Street in Harlem.
Things were fine until she tried to get in touch with Ome to pay her January rent, at which point he seemed to have disappeared. She tried calling the brokerage company who employed Ome, who allegedly advised her only "not to deal with him," though of course, by then, it was too late. Also, she realized, the building's management company said she owed the last two month's rent. Oh?
"We did a lot of our transactions and signed papers on the premises of this firm, so there was no reason to really doubt anything," she said of Ome. "And I guess he was just doing things behind their back."
After some initial back-and-forth, Tina said the brokerage company agreed to cover the back-rent that Ome stole. Police have told her she was far from his only victim: Up to 20 other people were grifted, though his story altered in each instance: Sometimes he was with the management company, sometimes he was the broker and sometimes, he was even the landlord. He also changed the apartment's locks before he fled, which creeps Tina out.
"The fact that he’s out there with our keys, and I don’t think he’ll ever return because he’s going to get caught, but it’s a little scary thinking that."
Ome still has not been caught. Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
Take a good look at the above photo. If he tries to rent you an apartment, for the love of God, don't do it.
