Landlord Impersonator Accused Of Taking Thousands From Renters
SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA.com) — A Van Nuys man faced forgery and residential burglary charges Tuesday for allegedly posing as the landlord of foreclosed homes and collecting thousands of dollars from unsuspecting renters.
In early 2010, 42-year-old Bob Frierson identified vacant single-family homes in North Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga and Victorville just prior to them being foreclosed upon or sold.
After allegedly filing fraudulent grant deeds against the properties using his name along with biblical passages, Frierson would seek unsuspecting renters and have them sign a rental agreement, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office.
After collecting the first and last month's rental deposits, Frierson collected illegal rents until the banks foreclosed on the properties and evicted the unsuspecting renters.
"Most of the true homeowners ended up losing their homes to foreclosure, because they could not get the tenants out in time to sell it," Nyberg said. "Others ended up filing for bankruptcy."
On March 27, a felony arrest warrant was issued against Frierson, charging him with six counts of Recording a False Document, six counts of Forgery, and one count of Residential Burglary.
Frierson was subsequntly located and arrested during a surveillance in the City of Compton by San Bernardino County District Attorney Investigators assigned to the Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Unit.
Frierson is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 6 at 8:30 a.m. in San Bernardino Superior Court.
Click here (PDF) to read the complaint filed by the District Attorney's Office.
