Man convicted of renting O.C. homes that he didn’t own

Orange County District Attorney Press Release

For Immediate Release, Case # 10CF1450: December 13, 2013

MAN SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON FOR $3.5 MILLION FRAUDULENT SCHEME OF FALSELY TRANSFERRING DEEDS ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES

SANTA ANA – A man was sentenced today to four years in state prison for recording false quitclaim deeds on several residential properties as part of an elaborate scheme to possess and rent out properties valued at over $3.5 million. Blair Christopher Hanloh, 50, Long Beach, was convicted by a jury Oct. 30, 2013, of five felony counts of recording false and forged instruments.

The Court ruled today that Hanloh could not be sentenced to a state prison term due to current prison realignment legislation and sentenced the defendant to serve his state prison sentence in county jail.

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 from him. Orange County District Attorney’s Investigators assisted in the investigation.

“I would like to congratulate Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and his department on a job well done. Our office has been working closely with the District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit to find ways to prevent these crimes from happening in the future,” said Orange County Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen.

At the sentencing today, an attorney for one of the institutions defrauded in this case submitted a victim impact statement to the Court describing the financial loss that was incurred and the amount of time it took to bring this defendant to justice.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Pete Pierce of the Major Fraud Unit prosecuted this case.

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Tony Rackauckas, District Attorney 401 Civic Center Drive West Santa Ana, CA 92701

Contacts:

Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718

Farrah Emami Spokesperson Office: 714-347-8405 Cell: 714-323-4486