A slumlord who took advantage of Black renters in Hampton Roads was sentenced to 17 years in prison for wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and race-based interference with housing and employment.
According to court documents, David L. Merryman, 59, of Hampton, who owned more than 60 rental properties in Hampton and Newport News, and regularly harassed his minority tenants with slurs, comments about slavery and death threats, took advantage of COVID-19 rent-relief programs by using his tenants’ names and personal information without their consent and forging their signatures.
Through this scheme, Merryman, called a “slumlord from hell” by one former tenant, was able to obtain significant sums from state and federal COVID relief programs without telling his tenants, even evicting, or seeking to evict, those tenants that he’d exploited for unpaid rent.
The court documents tell us that Merryman primarily rented his properties, which were often in poor condition, some basically uninhabitable, to underprivileged African American tenants with limited credit and housing options.
This was his leverage point, and he used it as his personal piggy bank; on top of the COVID fraud, Merryman would pocket large initial payments in the form of security deposits, prepaid rent, and other fees for his slums, and demand money up front for repairs to his properties that he never intended to improve, with the intention to evict his renters to be able to start the cycle over again.
“David Merryman deliberately targeted families of color with limited means and housing options.” said Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Easter District of Virginia. “Landlords have a responsibility under the law to uphold the 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 for racial discrimination and fraud.”
Personal stories
One tenant, identified in court documents as L.G., made requests for necessary repairs to the home she was renting, to which Merryman repeatedly made racially derogatory responses.
In April 2019, Merryman threatened to turn L.G. and her children into “potting soil.” L.G. obtained a protective order against Merryman, who then responded by, among other things, parking his vehicle just outside the prohibited radius of the order and intimidating L.G. and her family.
Another tenant, identified as E.P., regularly paid Merryman rent from 2015 until she was laid off from her job in 2021 during the pandemic after suffering medical problems resulting in her hospitalization.
On May 10, 2021, Merryman applied to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development for approximately $15,100 in rent relief benefits for E.P. and forged her signature, all without her consent. Despite obtaining those benefits for E.P., Merryman evicted her, citing her unpaid rent.
E.P. then lost all her belongings when Merryman sent a crew to remove them from her home and tow her car when she was hospitalized.
After Merryman failed to complete a driveway construction project, the customer hired a concrete construction business owner, identified as E.S., to finish the job. E.S. had worked in the concrete construction business for more than 40 years. On July 8, 2020, shortly after E.S. finished the project, he received a call from Merryman, who repeatedly threatened him.
E.S. obtained a protective order against Merryman, after which, in March 2021, Merryman came to a different jobsite where E.S. was working and stared at him and his team.
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Chris Graham
