Blair Christopher Hanloh, 46, of Long Beach, was charged Friday with stealing more than $3.5 million in a
fraudulent scheme that had him allegedly taking over homes he did not own, fixing them up a little, taking ads out on Craigslist and renting the houses out to the unsuspecting.
Hanloh, who is scheduled to be arraigned on July 14 in Santa Ana, preyed on properties on Birch
Tree Lane in Anaheim and Sea Bright Drive in San Clemente, according to court documents.
The owner and operator of Blair Hanloh Trustee of Diversified Management
Trust (Diversified Management) could get a couple years in prison if the charges stick.
The Orange County District Attorney's Office lays out its case after the jump . . .
]
June 4, 2010
MAN CHARGED WITH GRAND THEFT OVER $3.5 MILLION IN FRAUDULENT SCHEME OF
REAL PROPERTY THEFT AND RENTING OUT HOUSES
SANTA ANA – A man was charged today with stealing over $3.5 million in a
fraudulent scheme of real property theft and renting out houses he took
over. Blair Christopher Hanloh, 46, Long Beach, is charged with eight
felony counts of grand theft, five felony counts of recording false and
forged instruments, one felony count of second degree commercial
burglary, and sentencing enhancement allegations for property theft over
$65,000, $200,000, $1.3 million, $3.2 million, and aggravated white
collar crime over $100,000 and $500,000. If convicted, he faces a
maximum sentence of 21 years in state prison. Hanloh is scheduled to be
arraigned July 14, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55, Central
Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Hanloh owned and operated Blair Hanloh Trustee of Diversified Management
Trust (Diversified Management). He is accused of starting this company
to file quitclaim deeds to fraudulently transfer properties from himself
to Diversified Management. A quitclaim deed is a document filed with
the County Recorder's Office that severs ownership of the person filing
from a specified property and passes ownership to another named party.
Prior to Feb. 1, 2010, Hanloh is accused of going to properties on Birch
Tree Lane in Anaheim and Sea Bright Drive in San Clemente to assess
whether they were vacant or mid-foreclosure. He did not own these homes.
The defendant is accused of posting an abandoned property notice on the
houses. After a couple of weeks, Hanloh is accused of fraudulently
taking possession of the houses, drilling the locks and entering the
homes. He is accused of changing the locks and posting a “No
Trespassing” sign on the houses.
On Feb. 1, 2010, Hanloh is accused of filing two fraudulent quitclaim
deeds on Birch Tree and Sea Bright Drive homes. The defendant is accused
of fixing up the homes and posting them for rent on Craigslist. He is
accused of renting out the properties to unsuspecting families by having
them sign a fraudulent lease agreement.
On March 5, 2010, Hanloh is accused of taking possession of and filing a
fraudulent quitclaim deed on a property on Rainview Court in Anaheim.
Hanloh is accused of entering the house with the intent to commit
larceny. On March 11, 2010, Hanloh is accused of fraudulently taking
possession of two houses, one in foreclosure on Del Gado Road in Dana
Point and the other due to be sold in public auction on Avenida Valencia
in San Clemente. He is accused of filing fraudulent quitclaim deeds and
renting out the houses to unsuspecting renters by having them sign
fraudulent lease agreements.
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 from
him. The Orange County District Attorney's Investigators assisted in the
investigation.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Pete Pierce of the Major Fraud Unit is
prosecuting this case.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.