Serial rent dodger sentenced to 2 years in prison

Nadav Joseph Even-Har has been sentenced to two years in prison for a series of frauds he perpetrated in the greater Halifax area, including scamming a Cole Harbour, N.S., landlord out of $12,000 in rent.

"Taxpayers will be taking care of his rent bill for the next, potentially, 24 months, so I guess that avoids him screwing over another landlord," former landlord Jason Selby said. 

Even-Har pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud, two counts of uttering forged documents and two counts of theft under $5,000. 

Multiple scams

Even-Har's crimes took place in Halifax over the past three years. He was arrested on Dec. 18.

Twice he defrauded landlords of thousands of dollars by paying rent with cheques from closed accounts. 

He also ran up thousands in hotel bills at a Travelodge in Dartmouth by falsely claiming TD Insurance was covering his bills following a flood at his home.

Even-Har also admitted to stealing gasoline and racking up thousands in car rental fees while refusing to return a vehicle. 

The court imposed restitution orders of nearly $28,000, including $12,000 to Selby for unpaid rent. 

"I don't expect to get any money that is owed to me, and you know that's that's just the reality of it all," Selby said. 

CBC News first reported on Selby's struggles to evict Even-Har from his home in October 2019.

Even-Har had agreed to lease Selby's place for $2,000 a month in June.

But all of Even-Har's rent cheques bounced. 

It's an experience reported by many of Even-Har's landlords back to at least 2013. 

According to Nova Scotia court records, Even-Har has multiple previous convictions for forgery and theft. 

Victim impact

Selby rented out his home to help with cash flow while he was setting up a cafe and gift shop in Cole Harbour. 

Because Even-Har failed to pay him rent, he was unable to rent an apartment.

"I slept on the concrete floor of my gift shop on a blow up mattress and showered at the gym for weeks," Selby wrote in his victim impact statement for the court.

"I also stayed at the homes of friends and family who graciously took me in during the whole ordeal while I showed up every evening to sleep, embarrassed and ashamed."

Selby wrote in his victim impact statement that when he finally returned home in October, the place was covered in urine, garbage and debris.

"The floors were destroyed, there were spray painted walls, holes in the walls, the kitchen counter was split, the whole house needed to be painted and the trim replaced because of the urine," Selby wrote.

He said volunteers from the community spent days helping him clean and repair his home. 

"I'm grateful, and grateful to the community. I'm grateful that justice still exists in our province," Selby said following the sentencing.

He also has hope for Even-Har. 

"That he'll change his ways like he said he would," Selby said.

"And that his time behind bars will provide an opportunity for him to ... do some deep reflection within and hopefully get the help that he needs so that he can be a contributing member of society and not just someone that harms others."

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