PLANTATION, Fla. – Donnamarie Myers described herself on Zillow as a “Real Estate Diva.” But authorities accuse the Plantation woman of being a real estate deceiver.
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Myers, 53, is accused of netting nearly $200,000 from a home rental and purchasing scam that she conducted after her real estate license was revoked in March 2021 after complaints from “victims and real estate agents.”
State records show she’s had five complaints for “unlicensed activity” since. Authorities said that unlicensed activity is what landed her behind bars on four felonies Thursday.
According to an 11-page arrest affidavit, a full seven of which were redacted by Broward prosecutors, citing, in part, “active criminal intelligence and active criminal investigation information,” Plantation police had been notified of “several cases” involving Myers.
Plantation Police Department investigators said Myers was acting as an agent to “facilitate” the rental and purchase of homes and was collecting deposits.
“Myers requested that the victims send her payments via wire transfer, cash, CashApp, Apple Cash, Zelle and/or Venmo,” a detective wrote in the Feb. 14 affidavit. “Myers assured all of these victims that their funds would be deposited into escrow accounts toward the rental/purchase of a home, however, these payments went to her personal accounts, not Escrow accounts as is the proper procedure when working with a Realtor.”
Police said the victims were never able to rent or buy the homes and “have not been reimbursed for their funds lost.”
Authorities said she made $197,224 from the scheme. The remaining unredacted portions of the affidavit provided no additional information.
Myers turned herself in at the Broward County Main Jail Thursday to surrender to charges of first-degree grand theft, obtaining property over $50,000 by fraud, defrauding a financial institution and identity theft.
As of Friday afternoon, she was being held on a $30,000 bond.