by Sara 

Serial scammer fined $2,250

27 Comments

The law has caught up with Magnolia landlord Diana J. Delaney ? sort of.

The serial scammer who, for three years stole as much as $36,000 in deposits from would-be renters, was found guilty of felony theft Nov. 18 and ordered by Judge Sharon S Armstrong of King County Superior Court to pay $2,250 in fines.

Yet just prior to the sentencing, some Magnolia Voice readers said Delaney continued posting on Craigslist the availability of her property on the 3800 block of 34th Avenue West. Those listings were reported as fraudulent and have since been deleted. However, one reader, unaware of Delaney?s doings, responded to the ad and? paid Delaney two-months? advance rent of $1,200.

Yet, the reader writes:

Diana showed me the room while it had been occupied by the renter (a lawyer). ?I told her that I was about to put my things [there] in advance during the weekends but then she told me that the room was not available due to broken sewer line and [the] house is all wet and the workers have to do it for weeks so I won’t be able to move in by November 1 – and few days after – she told me I could still move [in].

The renter found out about Delaney but Delaney still has her deposit.

Another reader had dealings with Delaney in October when Delaney inquired about a room the reader was renting on the Eastside, and touting her skills as an experienced ghostwriter. But, writes the reader, things soured immediately:

When I did preliminary Internet background checking on her, I discovered, among other things, that she had just pled guilty in King County Superior Court on an Alford arrangement to some $36K rental fraud on her own rented house in Magnolia. She then denied any wrongdoing, and got quite indignant?when I confronted her with these reported facts.

Delaney still has the right to an appeal. But court documents show one has yet to be filed.

About the author 

Sara

  1. WHAT???? $2,250 for $36k of stolen money?
    Not a deterrent for sure. It’s like a tax – pay it and continue scamming people!

  2. Diana Delaney is actually not the property owner at the Magnolia address noted in the ‘MV’ article here.? She has rented this home from the real homeowner for 10 years and, unbeknownst to him and without his authorization, has been ‘subletting’ one bedroom out for at least the past 3 years.

    Delaney also goes by the surnames Finch and Powell, all with different e-mail aliases. ?She has been plying her allegedly larcenous rental and ghostwriting scams via many online sites over the years, and most notably?in Craigslist’s ‘Room Wanted’ and ‘Writing Gigs’ sections.? At the present there appears to be no current CL postings.? All her ads prominently note her supposed PhD in Psychiatry, as well as her living for years in Italy while working for the U.N.? Who knows if any of that is true.

    http://www.SeattlePI.com is also a good source of info. on this person and her dealings with both the SPD & Seattle Superior Court System during the past 3 years.?

    Caveat Emptor!? ? Last time I checked, she still lives in the Seattle area with her 10-year old male Golden Retriever named Gabriel.? She and her stories are easy to spot if you do communicate with her, but only if you remain vigilant.

  3. Diana Delaney has only lived in that house and rented from the owner of the house for 3 years so has riped people off the whole time she has lived there. Anybody have any idea why she is still there? The owner must think what she is doing is ok.?? MY MY

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