NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — A Hampton man pleaded guilty in Newport News on Wednesday after harassing minority tenants, evicting them and fraudulently using their information to receive rent relief benefits, according to a release.

59-year-old David L. Merryman owns rental properties in Newport News and Hampton, and primarily rented to African Americans with limited credit and housing options. A lot of Merryman’s property were in poor conditions with some even considered uninhabitable.

Merryman charged tenants a large upfront payment in the form of security deposits, prepaid rent, etc. and would later evict them in order to repeat the process with another tenant. Reports also stated he harassed minority tenants with racial slurs, threats, comments about slavery, etc.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Merryman would use tenants information to apply for rent relief benefits using their identity. In some cases, if a tenant couldn’t pay rent, he applied for the rent relief using their information before evicting them.

One tenant, identified as E.P., paid Merryman rent from 2015 until she was laid off from her job in 2021 during the pandemic after suffering medical problems that put her in the hospital. On May 10, 2021, Merryman applied for around $15,100 in rent relief benefits for E.P. and forged her signature without her consent.

Merryman received the funds from the relief before he evicted her, citing her unpaid rent. E.P. lost all her belongings when Merryman sent a crew to remove them from her home and towed her car when she was hospitalized.

Several other reports showed Merryman harassing and intimidating individuals, resulting in restraining orders.

He pled guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and race-based interference with housing and employment. He faces just over 20 years in prison.