Harlem Property Manager Stole $56K In Rent From Subsidized Tenants: DA

HARLEM, NY — A former Harlem property manager was indicted Wednesday on a pair of felony charges after prosecutors said she stole tens of thousands of dollars in rent payments from vulnerable tenants.

Shatina Howell, 42, was charged with two counts of grand larceny and scheme to defraud, according to the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Prosecutors say that Howell stole 145 money orders from tenants at four subsidized Harlem rental buildings since 2020, and deposited $56,412 of the tenant's money in her personal bank account by altering the payee field on the money order.

Those tenants stiffed by Howell included veterans, low-income, disabled and elderly Harlem residents, Bragg's office said.

“Shatina Howell allegedly took advantage of tenants in the buildings she managed by breaking their trust and pocketing the money that was intended for rent. She abused her position of authority to exploit New Yorkers who are older adults, veterans, and disabled,” said Bragg.

For some tenants facing physical health issues Howell gained the trust of, according to prosecutors, she told them not to worry about filling out the money order forms and that she would assist them with the paperwork.

Instead, officials said, Howell deposited the tenants' funds into two bank accounts she controlled.

The scheme began during the pandemic, when Howell was working as a property manager at the Ennis Francis Apartments, two buildings on West 123rd Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in Central Harlem, a building where low-income tenants, veterans and disabled New Yorkers receive rental assistance through the Section 8 voucher program.

Over roughly 15 months, Howell stole at least 91 money orders from about 41 tenants, prosecutors said, totalling nearly $40,000. Prosecutors said Howell even continued to collect a rent payment from a tenant after she left the job sometime in 2022.

The management company she worked for, Kraus Management, only discovered the fraud when a tenant complained, after Howell left the job, officials said.

She was then hired by Dalton Management to manage three buildings in Central Harlem, a mix of Section 8 buildings and a Mitchell-Lama property, according to prosecutors.

For about a year and a half, Howell altered about 50 money orders there, too, stealing over $17,000 from 19 tenants, prosecutors claim.

This time, a tenant filed a complaint while Howell was still working there, resulting in her being terminated from the position.

Bragg asks that any tenant who thinks they may be a victim to fraud to reach out to his office's Housing and Tenant Protection Unit at 212-335-3300 or by email to Danyhousing@dany.nyc.gov.