| For Immediate Release Case # 10CF1450 October 31, 2013 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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MAN CONVICTED OF $3.5 MILLION FRAUDULENT SCHEME BY FALSELY TRANSFERRING DEEDS ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES AND FRAUDULENTLY RENTING OUT HOUSES
SANTA ANA – A man was convicted yesterday of stealing over $3.5 million in a fraudulent scheme by falsely transferring residential property deeds and fraudulently renting out houses. Blair Christopher Hanloh, 50, Long Beach, was convicted by a jury yesterday, Oct. 30, 2013, of five felony counts of recording false and forged instruments. He faces a maximum sentence of five years and eight months in state prison at his sentencing Dec. 13, 2013, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-40, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Hanloh owned and operated as Blair Hanloh Trustee of Diversified Management Trust (Diversified Management). He started this company to record quitclaim deeds to fraudulently transfer properties from himself to Diversified Management. A quitclaim deed is a document filed with the County Clerk-Recorder’s Department to sever ownership from a specified property in order to pass ownership to another named party.
Prior to Feb. 1, 2010, Hanloh visited properties on Birch Tree Lane in Anaheim and Sea Bright Drive in Dana Point to assess whether they were vacant or mid-foreclosure. He did not own these homes. After a couple of weeks, Hanloh fraudulently took possession of the houses, drilled the locks, entered the homes, and then changed the locks.
On Feb. 1, 2010, Hanloh recorded two fraudulent quitclaim deeds on Birch Tree and Sea Bright Drive homes. He fixed up the homes and posted them for rent on Craigslist. He then rented out the properties to unsuspecting renters by having them sign a fraudulent lease agreement.
On March 5, 2010, Hanloh took possession of and recorded a fraudulent quitclaim deed on a property on Rainview Court in Anaheim. Hanloh then rented the property to a renter-family by having them sign a fraudulent lease agreement. Hanloh is accused of entering the home with the intent to commit larceny. The defendant was convicted for recording the fraudulent quitclaim deed and was charged with one felony count of commercial burglary, but the jury was deadlocked on that charge.
On March 11, 2010, Hanloh fraudulently took possession of two houses, one in foreclosure on Del Gado Road in Dana Point and the other due to be sold at public auction on Avenida Valencia in San Clemente. He recorded fraudulent quitclaim deeds and placed a renter in the San Clemente property.
The Anaheim Police Department began investigating Hanloh after they received a call from the legal owner of the Rainview Court property about tenants in his home that he did not know and had not rented