3 On Your Side: Danna Ntaka Rental Scams Continue
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- She claims to be a doctor and landlord, yet she rents out homes she doesn't own! 3 On Your Side's Jim Donovan first told you about her several years ago. Now wanted by police, some say she's the queen of scams and is still up to her old tricks.
Every time that I try to speak with Danna Ntaka, a door gets in the way. It happened 5 years ago on her porch in Princeton, and again recently in Delaware.
Raushanah Young wants to speak with her too. Young says, "She disappeared, she started avoiding our phone calls." According to Young, Ntaka owes her almost $700, part of a deposit she paid her to rent a home in West Oak Lane. She says, "You would never assume that this little five foot woman who speaks so well is going to scam you out of your money."
Ntaka didn't even own the house that she rented to Young. In fact, she was evicted from it! "She just stopped paying me. period," says Rochelle Coles, the legitimate owner of the property. She says Ntaka owes her back rent and legal fees in the neighborhood of seven thousand dollars. When Coles first rented to Ntaka, Ntaka was using her maiden name Danna McKellar. Coles thought she'd be a model tenant. Photos on social media show Ntaka was part of a Christian a cappella group. According to Coles, "I met her at church. She made like she was a medical doctor. She wore the scrubs and everything like that."
Victims say Ntaka has it down to a science. They tell 3 On Your Side that she rents a home, fails to pay the rent, advertises the rental as her own, pockets the deposit money and then disappears. In effect stealing from the real homeowner and prospective tenant.
"She told me that she worked at the medical dental school," says Nicole Wenderoth. Wenderoth gave Ntaka $3,600 to rent a house in Lansdale. She says, "I thought oh I can really trust this person and I know we'll be o.k. here." That was until the real owners, Debbie and Steve Hendricks showed up. Steve recounted that day, "I said hi, I'm Steve, who are you"? Surprised to find Wenderoth had moved into their property and that she'd given rental money to Ntaka, money they never received. Steve Hendricks says, "She was always late on her rent, but we didn't think she was a crook."
A crook with a checkered past. The Philadelphia Police issuing a wanted poster for outstanding warrants involving everything from theft by deception to fraud.
"She's a career criminal," says Robert Tull. In 2009 Tull spoke with 3 On Your Side after Ntaka allegedly stole almost $9,000 from his daughter and her friends. Tull says, "She will not stop, I guarantee you, and she's hard to catch."
Yet 3 On Your Side tracked Ntaka down at a home in Wilmington where she briefly appeared at the door to accept a package. She refused to speak with us, and her husband Dikela Ntaka wasn't happy to see us either, slamming their front door when we returned a short time later.
Danna Ntaka also goes by the names Danna McKellar and Elizabeth Clemmons. If you're looking for a rental property, don't give this woman any money. If you see her, call police, let them know that she has outstanding warrants and give them her location.