A Leesburg woman was arrested after allegedly using a forged lease to live rent free.
Shieka Diell Allen, 32, was arrested Wednesday after she admitted to forging a signature on the lease for the apartment on the 1200 block of Dewey Street in Eustis. The forgery came to light when a property manager received a utility bill for water and sewer from the city of Eustis. The property manager had no knowledge of a lease at that address, so he had the city send him a copy of the lease. The manager contacted the Eustis Police Department and a detective was assigned to the case.
The detective went to the Dewey Street apartment and made contact with Allen. She told the detective she had been living in the apartment since 2019, when a friend let her move in with her son and boyfriend. Allen explained to the detective that her friend had moved out and that she had not paid any rent. When asked about a lease that would have been needed to get the utilities turned on, Allen admitted to taking an old lease and altering it to show her name as the tenant. She admitted she knew it was wrong but claimed she did it for her child.
A warrant was later obtained for her arrest, after she moved out of the apartment and relocated to Leesburg.
Allen was taken into custody and booked at the Lake County Jail. She was released after posting $4,000 bond.
