ST PAUL, Minn. — The house on Larpenteur Avenue East has six bedrooms, three bathrooms, central air and an updated kitchen.
For Kristen Kuhn and her best friend Michelle Summers, it seemed perfect. The house had plenty of room for Kuhn’s kids. Plus, it was handicapped accessible for Summers who uses a wheelchair.
They met with “Keith” the property manager and signed a lease on Jan. 25 for an April 1 move in, giving him a cashier’s check for $5,300 as a deposit.
Almost immediately, he began asking for more money – claiming he needed them to pay the first month’s rent early. Kuhn gave him another $2,500.
But then, just two weeks before they were supposed to move in, “Keith” called to say he had to cancel the lease. He claimed the current tenants sued to stay – and a court ordered him to allow it. KARE 11 found no record of any such order.
The call left Kuhn’s family in a bind because they had already given notice they were leaving their old apartment.
“We thought we were going to be homeless,” Kuhn said. “It was very scary to think that was going to happen to us.”
Now, more than two months later, Kuhn and Summers are out nearly $8,000 – and the house they planned to rent.
What’s more, they were about to discover they weren’t the only victims.
Finding red flags and more renters
With their savings exhausted and nowhere for her kids to live, Kuhn was heartbroken.
Summers grew suspicious. She had already taken to recording her phone calls with “Keith.” Now, she started digging through court records.
“I did a lot of research and found out more about Keith,” she said.
Turns out his actual name was Ky Kao – and he had felony convictions dating back two decades.
She also discovered they weren’t the only people who had signed a lease for the Larpenteur property.
Records show Ayan Mohamed signed a lease on February 26 – one month after Kuhn and Summers – and planned to move in quickly on March 1. A receipt shows she paid Kao $4,900.
The very same day – February 26 – records show Kao was taking a $1,000 check from Kuhn as partial pre-payment for their April rent.
Kao was taking money from two different families for the same house on the same day.
Moving day surprise
Ayan’s brother, Saeed Mohamed, says when his sister went to the house planning to move in, she found another family living there, saying they already had a lease.
Even more surprising, Ayan and Saeed weren’t the only ones. “They said families have come before you guys. They’re asking me what’s going on? Is this a daily thing now?” Saeed Mohamed recalled.
Turns out, a fourth family had signed a lease with Kao even earlier.
Marwaan Ali and his family signed a lease for the Larpenteur property on Dec. 21, 2023, but didn’t expect to take possession until March 2024.
“We expected the lease to start around March 1st,” Marwaan told KARE 11.
Receipts show his family paid a $5,000 security deposit immediately and then, in mid-January, gave Kao $2,500 to pre-pay the first month’s rent.
Marwaan’s family would eventually cancel the lease on Jan. 31 and request a refund per the terms of the lease.
But before they canceled, Kao had already agreed to rent the house to Kuhn and Summers.
“I don’t understand why he’s trying to have multiple families move in at the same time and he’s collecting all this money and I just want to know what’ he’s doing with this money,” Marwaan said.
Kao’s criminal record
KARE 11 searched Ky Kao’s public criminal record. It shows a long history of criminal behavior, beginning with a conviction for felony theft in 2004.
Since then, Kao has been convicted on 14 additional charges, including check forgery, identity theft, theft of services and theft by swindle.
He even served prison time after stealing more than $500,000 from a former employer in 2016. Court records show he continued the theft even after he was caught and charged with a crime.
None of the renters knew that before signing their leases.
They now doubt he has any intention of paying them back.
In all, KARE 11 has documented more than $20,000 collected from the three families from late December through March.
No refunds
Although months have passed, none of the families have received any of their money back.
“Not a single dollar,” Marwaan said.
“No, and he hasn’t contacted us,” Kuhn told KARE 11.
“Not even a dollar,” Saeed said.
Instead, text messages provided to KARE 11 show Kao repeatedly offering excuses as to why he cannot refund their money. Among other reasons, he claims to be “out of town”, “had a death in family” and said he “broke his leg”.
Kuhn and Summers, Saeed and Ayan and Marwaan have each filed civil lawsuits against Kao in Ramsey County Court. The first hearing dates are not until June.
They’ve also reported him to St. Paul Police and to Zillow, the rental app, where many saw Kao’s listing.
St. Paul Police told KARE 11 they are investigating. The Zillow listing was taken down, but the renters said it reappeared on other websites.
Frustratingly, after they were scammed, they say they had friends call Kao to inquire about the property. As recently as this week, Kao texted one of them saying the house was available in July.
“He’s going to keep doing this until he gets caught one of these days,” said Saeed.
KARE 11 Investigates reached out to Kao with a number of questions via phone call, text and email. He declined an interview, telling KARE in an email he was out of town.
But KARE 11 spotted him at his Savage home. The next day we tried to speak with him there, but he closed the garage door and wouldn’t answer his front door.
In his email Kao said, “We have every intention of paying back their deposits and are working on gathering the funds as we speak.”
He did not answer questions about why he took the money in the first place.
Unpacking the consequences
For Kuhn and Summers, the consequences of Kao’s scam were life altering.
They’d already given up the lease on their previous rental and with just days to find a new place had to settle for the first house they could find. They’d also exhausted much of their savings to pay the deposit and first month’s rent to Kao.
The family wound up in a St. Paul house that doesn’t suit their needs. While they are grateful for a roof over their heads, it is not convenient to Kuhn’s kids’ school. Even worse, it is not wheelchair accessible.
There are stairs so Summers can’t get in and out of the house by herself, and once inside, she can’t navigate through tight doorways. “It means I sleep right here in the living room,” she said.
“How do you think someone does that to people?” KARE 11 asked. “Greed,” Michelle sighed. “Very greedy.”
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