Leases in hand, each of the women thought that she alone rented this first floor apartment on 127th street and each one was about to move in.
The landlord kept delaying their move-in dates. Frustrated, Nurija Beharovic showed up. She couldn't find the owner. Instead, she found someone just like her.
"Are you here for renting or something? She said, 'yeah', I rented this apartment. I said, which apartment? She pointed to the first floor window and I said no, I rented this apartment. Then we started comparing leases and had the same guy's name," Nurija said.
The man's name is Shahab Khan, and also sometimes goes by the name Shahab "Roy" Khan on these leases.
The women say they each gave khan a 2 to 3 thousand dollar deposit. As move-in day approached, he started putting them off. A power outage had delayed home improvements. And worse, he told the tenants that his wife had fallen down the stairs and lost their baby. This, the tenants found out, was a lie.
Now, outside the home, these would-be renters say they know of 10 families who had rented this apartment at the same time.
After speaking to khan via phone, he called "this" a misunderstanding. Claiming that he explained the leases were contingent upon background and credit checks.
"No", Khan said, "as long as I get the money, it's fine."
Now, these women want their money back.
Khan says he'll refund every cent Thursday. The women say he's told them that, too, but then again, he's told them a couple of stories.
