Indictment: Fake landlord duped tenants

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A purported landlord who used foreclosed homes to scam unsuspecting tenants will face charges once he is located, according to Albuquerque police.

Last summer KRQE News 13 interviewed three women who said they rented houses from Ernest Garcia.

But according to police Garcia had broken into foreclosed homes which he then pretended to own while collecting cash from would-be tenants.

Melinda Shisler told News 13 she gave Garcia a $400 deposit and another $450 for the first month's rent but soon knew something wasn't right.

"He started giving me the runaround," Shisler said in June. "I would call him, and he wouldn't call me or he would call me and say I need more money."

Hope Garcia moved into a house after she said she paid Garcia $1,000.

"I don't have a home for my son," she said while fighting back tears. "I'm living with my boyfriend's brother."

Now a grand jury has indicted Garcia on 13 counts including fraud, forgery and burglary.

"It's a scheme that I don't think any of us have ever seen before and certainly one that is propelled by the economy," Pat Davis, a spokesman for Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg, said. "He violated their trust.

"This is not about a small crime."

But there's one problem. Investigators don't know where to find Garcia.

A warrant is out for his arrest, and he has a court hearing scheduled Thursday in an aggravated DWI case.

If he shows, he will be arrested. Garcia has a criminal history dating back to 1989 that includes burglary, forgery and conspiracy.