Woman who dodged rent payments in excess of $94K pleads guilty to bankruptcy fraud

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A woman accused of using fake identities to commit bankruptcy fraud in excess of $94,000 has pleaded guilty to multiple charges.

According to federal prosecutors, a Columbus woman admitted to renting homes using stolen or fictitious identities, failing to pay rent, and then filing bankruptcy petitions to delay eviction.

Court records state that 50-year-old Latasha Collins-Ford committed bankruptcy fraud on at least three occasions between 2019 and 2023 while renting three residences using three identities. Once the bankruptcy petitions were discharged or dismissed, Collins-Ford would then move on to a new rental home and repeat the scheme.

A U.S. District Court criminal complaint indicates that the initial investigation began in 2021 when an FBI special agent received a supplemental bankruptcy criminal referral from the Office of the U.S. Trustees in Columbus. The referral listed Collins-Ford as the subject, who reportedly was using the name of an identity theft victim.

In this instance, and in the instance of all three victims, Collins-Ford, using separate identities, rented properties in Blacklick, Delaware and the north Columbus neighborhood of Linworth.

Collins-Ford first applied for a lease under the first victim’s name for a Blacklick apartment in 2019 and failed to pay rent at the property for about two years. She filed chapter 13 bankruptcy under the victim’s name and was eventually evicted in March 2022, having amassed over $65,362.13 in unpaid rent.

One month before her eviction, Collins-Ford applied for a lease under a separate victim’s name for an apartment in Delaware. Six months later an eviction notice was filed for failure to pay rent of over $5,700, and as was the case in the first incident, Collins-Ford filed for bankruptcy under the second victim’s name.

In March 2023, a second eviction notice was filed for failure to pay rent in the amount of $27,580.74, and the woman was evicted the following month.

In May 2023, Collins-Ford rented a Linworth property under a third identity and filed for bankruptcy in August. During a bankruptcy hearing, Collins-Ford, while under oath, stated her name was that of an Indiana woman whose identity had previously been confirmed after she filed a criminal complaint for identity fraud. The amount of unpaid rent was not listed in court documents.

An arrest warrant was issued in September 2024 and just over one year later, Collins-Ford, charged with three counts of bankruptcy fraud and one count of perjury, pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud, which is punishable by up to five years in prison. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled, according to court records.