DA: Nassau Man Pleads Guilty to North Shore Rental Scheme

A Nassau County man pleaded guilty Tuesday to cheating North Shore landlords out of thousands of dollars in rent for homes on Long Island’s North Shore. He also pleaded guilty to not sending the proceeds of both a vehicle sold on his landlord’s behalf and payments for a debt he promised a Florida man he would collect, authorities said.

Jerry Hauser, 57, pleaded guilty to six counts of third-degree grand larceny and one count of fourth-degree grand larceny, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said.

Due back in court on Oct. 30, 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, the DA’s office said.

“Our society only functions when people live up to their agreements, including paying money that they owe,” DA Rice said, in a statement. “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.”

Beginning in 2010, Hauser spent three years renting 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, according to the DA’s office.

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 did not pay or paid with checks that ultimately bounced, according to the DA’s office.

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, according to the DAs office.

Additionally, Hauser entered into an agreement with one landlord to sell the landlord’s automobile, sold the car, but give the landlord the proceeds of the sale. 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 the payment, the DA said.

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, authorities said.

“He accepted responsibility and is looking forward to resuming his life after serving his sentence,” Hauser’s attorney, Samuel Rieff of Garden City, told Newsday.