Landlords’ scrutiny of tenants foiled by false pretenses

Stricter regulations on who can rent an apartment aren’t always enough to keep out undesirables and the problems that may follow.

The recent murder of Odomie A. Wellington, 31, at Westchester Apartments in Austintown has some apartment managers wondering who is actually living in their buildings.

Wellington, whose address was listed as the Westchester Executive Apartments, 4884 Westchester Drive, was found dead Dec. 4 with multiple gunshot wounds.

He was in the driver’s seat of a white Cadillac parked outside the apartment complex. Alekum McLendon, 21, of Youngstown was also shot and injured. Austintown police have no leads on a suspect.

While investigating the crime, Austintown police discovered that though Wellington, a convicted felon, resided in the complex, the lease was in his mother’s name.

Westchester property manager Bart Dockry said usually it’s difficult to know if someone is living in an apartment under false pretenses.

He said though there is a clause in the lease that says subletting isn’t allowed, there are only a few ways to know if that occurrs.

“A lot of times what happens is we get information from other tenants,” he said, noting such information is confidential.

“I would never blame anybody for not getting involved. It’s a risk to them,” he said. “But there are times that, when it’s a reasonable concern, people will express or voice it to me.”

Read more in Sunday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com