Trial set for Iowa City landlord accused of stealing deposits from property owner

The trial for an Iowa City landlord accused of keeping thousands of dollars belonging to the property's owner has been set for Nov. 28.

Nancy L. Skay is charged with first-degree theft, a class C felony punishable by up to ten years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

From January 2008 to January 2009, Skay allegedly collected damage deposits for several Iowa City rental properties totaling $43,355.35 and put them into a separate bank account, police said. She then told the property owner that someone hacked into her account and stole $95,000.

Police said the bank account was not breached by a hacker, but by another account where the money was never available. Bank records indicate that Skay was misusing the damage deposit account for the rental properties by transferring funds in and out of her other accounts.

Skay is also accused of not turning over three rent deposits totaling $8,175.05 to the property owner in 2008, bringing the total of stolen funds to $51,541, police said.

A hearing with Hills Bank has been set for Dec. 2.