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A Virginia landlord has been sentenced after being accused of targeting Black tenants with racial slurs and stealing their identities to request COVID relief funds.
According to Black Enterprise, 59-year-old David Merryman was sentenced to 17 years in prison on charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and race-based interference with housing and employment in connection to actions against tenants at over 60 different rental properties in Newport and Hampton.
Prosecutors said Merryman “fraudulently obtained large initial payments in the form of security deposits, prepaid rent, and other fees for rental homes that were in poor repair” from 2019 to January 2024. After taking the tenants' information and payments, Merryman allegedly would attempt to evict them quickly to scam new tenants.
During the pandemic, Merryman forged some of the tenants' signatures as the government issued relief funds for renters, according to prosecutors. Merryman intentionally targeted Black tenants in low-income areas.
As he committed fraud, Merryman also allegedly harassed his Black tenants calling them racial slurs and forcing them to pay security deposits with the promise that he would make repairs never completed.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Jessica Aber, said in a statement: “David Merryman deliberately targeted families of color with limited means and housing options. Landlords have a responsibility under the law to uphold housing rights and protect the human dignity of the people to whom they rent. Mr. Merryman failed to uphold that responsibility and is paying a heavy price for his racial discrimination and fraud.”
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