Man rented vacant homes he didn’t own to Hispanic victims, North Carolina cops say

A man is accused of targeting Hispanic victims and renting them vacant homes he didn’t own, according to North Carolina police.

Officers arrested 29-year-old Khalil Rynes in August 2020, after receiving a report that he entered into a false housing rental agreement with a victim, who is Hispanic, according to a June 23 news release from the Winston-Salem Police Department.

In April 2021, officers received a second, similar report about Rynes renting a vacant home to another Hispanic victim. Police opened an investigation into Rynes and found that, between December 2019 and February 2022, he entered into fraudulent housing rental or rent-to-own agreements with six victims, all of whom are Hispanic, the release says. Police believe there may be more victims who have not come forward.

“In each case, the houses being rented to the victims were vacant homes and not owned or controlled by Mr. Rynes,” the release says.

Information regarding a defense attorney for Rynes was not available.

Winston-Salem is about 100 miles west of Raleigh.

Rynes collected around $54,830 in monthly rental payments from the victims and also allowed them to spend $63,200 on renovations to the properties that he did not own, according to police.

“As a result of this investigation, detectives were able to determine Mr. Rynes was specifically targeting Hispanic individuals as part of his rental scams,” the release says.

Rynes faces six counts of obtaining property by false pretense and one count of breaking and entering, according to police.

Rynes was taken to jail and given a bond of $102,500 for his release. He will appear in court on July 7.

This story was originally published June 27, 2022 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Man rented vacant homes he didn’t own to Hispanic victims, North Carolina cops say."