Vermont Police: Property Management Co. Victimized Dozens

Police in Montpelier, Vermont have identified 61 victims in the case of a property management company that suddenly went out of business, but no charges have been brought.

Tenants, landlords, contractors and others who are owed money by Parkside Property Management are still waiting for some resolution in the case.

In a raid last month, police seized computers and files from three locations as part of a probe that also includes the FBI.

Montpelier Police Detective Steve Nolan says the case against Parkside’s owners continues to mount. But he says it’ll take months to sort out, and that it depends where the evidence points.

Pam White, of Middlebury, is among those left in limbo.

White hired the company to manage a single-family house she owns. In January, she was contacted by a former Parkside employee who warned her that something unusual was happening with the company.

She went to the company’s office and was given $1,250 check for her tenant’s security deposit, but it bounced. She never got the rent for January, she said.

She has since written off the money she paid Parkside on her taxes.

“That’s all we really knew what to do with it. I wasn’t planning to do anything, because I didn’t think I’d get anywhere,” White said.

Police in Montpelier are working with the FBI to find out whether Parkside — which managed properties in Vermont and New Hampshire — did anything wrong.

“This is going to take months, I think, unfortunately,” said Nolan. “The list of possible charges is enormous but it all depends on where the evidence leads us.”

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Information from: The Times Argus,