PHILADELPHIA -
It has a rooftop deck with a breathtaking view of Philadelphia's skyline. Inside 2227 Tulip Street in Fishtown, there are spacious rooms, bathrooms and closets. It's described as a dream home.
"Yeah, the house seemed nice," said one would-be tenant. He and his roommates don't want to give their names, but say they were supposed to move in on Aug. 1. They have a signed lease and receipts that show they had a deal with landlord Dan Douglas -- until the day before move-in.
"He said the house had termite infestation," said the tenant, who didn't know it was scam.
He and his roommates are among more than a dozen people who have come forward claming they gave thousands of dollars in deposits that Douglas didn't give back for a house they would never get to move into.
"He said that the sheriff was on the way to condemn the house. This was the same day he was arrested."
FOX 29 was there Tuesday when two different groups of tenants showed up to move in. Philadelphia Police came out, cuffed Douglas and took him in for questioning.
"It started on July 20th, and we paid the full amount July 23rd," said another would-be tenant with the same move-in date of Aug. 1. He was blown away when he saw our story.
"We were bummed. We felt we were putting some measure of trust in this man and we knew that in these kind of situations you have to do your due diligence. And we hadn't done as much as we should have."
Phil Lord is the executive director of the Tenant Union Representative Network. He says, "That landlord should be in jail for this kind of thing or sued for a lot of money."
But Lord also says tenants have to do their research.
"You can go down to L&I, License and Inspections, and see if there are violations down there. You can check records to see if your landlord is being sued a lot or evicting tenants a lot," Lord says.
FOX 29 called L&I and found out Douglas' rental license expired in February of 2010, so he shouldn't be renting out the home.
Police say he is not charged yet, but there is a warrant for his arrest.
In the meantime, the college kids who got to the house first Tuesday say they still have the keys and aren't leaving. They haven't heard from Douglas since police took him in Tuesday.
