A former New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits employee is facing multiple fraud-related charges after city officials say she used her own login credentials to fabricate short-term-rental licenses, including one for a French Quarter property where such rentals are banned outright. Elisha Collier confessed when a lead detective confronted her, according to investigators, and now faces charges of malfeasance in office, injuring public records, computer fraud, and forgery.
According to WDSU, Collier allegedly used her city computer credentials to improperly generate short-term-rental licenses, including one tied to a French Quarter address. The French Quarter is specifically carved out as off-limits for these rentals; a city brochure on Accessory Short Term Rentals states the license type is allowed anywhere in New Orleans except the French Quarter, with an annual license fee of $200.
Investigators say Collier did not simply push paperwork through — she altered names, addresses, and other information inside the city's permitting system to generate licenses that should never have existed, then deleted entries afterward to cover her tracks. Short-term rentals across Orleans Parish fall under the city's Short Term Rental Administration, a division of the Department of Safety and Permits, which oversees the licensing process Collier is accused of manipulating.
How the Scheme Came to Light
The case broke open in the spring. Department of Safety and Permits Director Susannah Kirby learned of the allegations on May 5, and Collier was suspended immediately once they surfaced, the same account states. The department reported the matter to the New Orleans Police Department that same day and opened its own internal investigation.
That internal review widened beyond the original French Quarter license. The city identified unauthorized changes to other types of licenses and permits outside Collier's assigned responsibilities, suggesting the alleged tampering was not confined to a single case. Collier was ultimately terminated on September 17, more than four months after the suspension began.
Confession and Pending Charges
The investigation culminated Monday, when Collier reportedly confessed once confronted directly by the lead detective. She now faces charges of malfeasance in office, injuring public records, computer fraud, and forgery, and is expected to be booked into Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office custody before being transferred to Orleans Parish.
Louisiana law treats several of those charges as serious felonies. Under the statute covering first-degree injuring public records, the Louisiana State Legislature defines the offense as the intentional removal, mutilation, destruction, alteration, falsification, or concealment of a record filed or deposited by legal authority in a public office. Malfeasance in office carries its own weight too: the Louisiana State Legislature's statute on the charge allows for imprisonment of not more than 10 years, a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.
Mayor Moreno Responds
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno addressed the case directly, saying the city has zero tolerance for fraud, corruption, or abuse of public trust. She said department leadership acted immediately after learning of the allegations, pointing to the sequence that began with Collier's suspension, the referral to NOPD, and the internal investigation that led to her termination.
Moreno said the city acts on wrongdoing without waiting for criminal charges to be filed, framing the suspension and firing as proof the department moved on its own timeline rather than law enforcement's. “The people of New Orleans deserve a government that operates with honesty, integrity, and accountability,” she said, adding that city employees who violate public trust will be held accountable.
