Two readers have already responded to the story about Magnolia landlord scammer Diana Delaney, who pleaded guilty to theft of nearly $36,000 in King County Superior Court earlier this week. One reader said he was a victim of her shady dealings. He saw the ad on Craigslist for a place to rent, made contact, put a deposit down and was prepared to move in. But Delaney backed out and made off with the deposit.
Another reader wrote:
I count myself lucky, I suppose, after I read the article today about Diana Delaney. I had responded to an ad that she had posted on the Magnolia Voice forum about a year ago, advertising herself as an antiques dealer. She said that she used to run a store in the Village that sold Italian antiques, and was now dealing furniture out of her home. I contacted her about an antique table I wanted to consign with her. Her method of selling, as she described to me, was to show the items in her home and sell them on consignment. I didn’t get far enough with her to see any sort of contractual agreement. We spoke by phone a few times and I sent her a picture of the table, at which point she appraised the piece at 2x what I had paid for it 10 years ago. This was quite different than what I had heard from other antique dealers in town, so I questioned her on it. She never responded, and I tried once more to reach her, and again she never replied to my email.
After reading today’s blog post, I’m so relieved that I questioned her appraisal, and even more relieved that she didn’t ever respond to me. I hope others that she actually did harm monetarily come forward (like Ckup) [another victim of the scam] so that she can be stopped.
If you have been scammed by Delaney or anyone else, please contact The Voice at tips@magnoliavoice.com.