Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced that a Nassau County man pleaded guilty today to bilking Nassau landlords out of thousands of dollars in rent, as well as failing to remit proceeds of a vehicle sold on behalf of his landlord and payments for a debt he promised a Florida man he would collect.
Jerry Hauser, 57, pleaded guilty today to six counts of Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree (a D felony), and one count of Grand Larceny in the 4th Degree (an E felony) before Acting Nassau County Court Judge Francis Ricigliano. Hauser is expected to be sentenced to one to three years in prison, and will be ordered to pay restitution of $160,640 to his victims. He is due back in court on Oct. 30.
“Our society only functions when people live up to their agreements, including paying money that they owe,” DA Rice said. “This defendant betrayed those agreements on multiple occasions, costing his victims thousands of dollars in rent that they would have otherwise collected and funds that they had every right to expect would be paid.”
DA Rice said that over a period of three years starting in 2010, Hauser engaged in a scheme to rent expensive homes across Nassau County without paying rent. The homes were located in Jericho, Muttontown, Syosset, Old Westbury, and Kings Point with rental rates in excess of $3,000 per month.
Hauser gained the trust of all five landlords during the negotiation of the leases, signed the leases, and convinced the landlords to allow him entry to the homes prior to any deposit check clearance. Hauser would then move into the homes but fail to remit any payments or would make payments with checks that ultimately bounced.
Hauser would then live in the homes rent free and wait for the eviction process to take its course. He was able to stay in the homes for up to a year at a time while the landlords worked on trying to get him legally evicted.
Additionally, Hauser entered into an agreement with one landlord to sell the landlord’s automobile, sold the car, but failed to remit the proceeds of the sale to the landlord pursuant to the terms of the agreement. Hauser also entered into an agreement with a Florida resident to collect a debt owed to him from a local car dealership, collected the debt, but failed to remit payment pursuant to the terms of that agreement.
In total, Hauser defrauded the victims out of $160,640.
Hauser was arrested on June 22, 2012 by the Old Westbury Police Department for the theft of rent from an Old Westbury landlord and for failing to remit payment for a vehicle he sold on the landlord’s behalf. He was arrested on Dec. 16, 2013 by the Nassau County Police Department Crimes Against Property Squad for the theft of rent from the other landlords and for theft of funds from the Florida man.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew P. Sotirhos of DA Rice’s Economic Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the case. Hauser is represented by Sam Rieff, Esq.