After years of living in apartments, Linda Smith finally thought she had found a place she could call home for a while.
It had a two-car garage, a fenced backyard for the dog she imagined – a Maltese or a French bulldog? – was in a good Carlsbad neighborhood and, at $2,150 a month, was surprisingly affordable.
With four bedrooms and 1,900 square feet, there was plenty of space for her and her boyfriend, and for her teenage son while he finished high school.
When Smith saw the half a dozen other people she was competing with to rent the place, she raced to the bank, withdrew most of her savings and paid $4,500 for a deposit and first and last month's rent.
“It's not easy to find an affordable house in this area,” Smith said. “We were really excited.”
There was only one problem. Authorities say the two men who rented out the house on Adams Street didn't own it. It was in foreclosure.
In what may be yet another wrinkle in the collapse of the housing market, prosecutors allege that Alexander Braslavsky, 34, and Anthony Patrick Marshall, 38, posted ads on Craigslist for five foreclosed homes in Carlsbad, Corona and Stanton and rented them to people like Smith.
The two Orange County men pleaded not guilty Monday in Vista Superior Court to four counts of felony grand theft, one count of felony conspiracy, and one count of felony attempted grand theft. Prosecutors say the pair took in about $16,500.
The men were convincing, Smith said. One explained the lease to her “really methodically” and they gave her three keys that worked.
But there were red flags she ignored in her eagerness. The men never asked to check her credit, didn't know where the valves for the sprinklers or gas were and didn't give her a copy of the lease.
Smith, 44, said she discovered she had been swindled when she tried to turn on the utilities and was told someone had just bought the house at auction.
The news “steamrolled” her.
“It's just like being smacked really, really hard,” she said. “It's an awful feeling to be ripped off for that much money.”
Carlsbad police weren't optimistic about recovering Smith's money. All Smith had was a cell phone number and a handwritten receipt.
But Smith fought back anyway. She went on Craigslist and posted a notice identical to the one she had clicked on for the same Carlsbad house, explaining how she had been ripped off. A man from Huntington Beach, who was planning to meet two men about a rental house on Sierra Morena Avenue in Carlsbad, became suspicious and contacted her. Smith called police, who showed up at the meeting instead.
Deputy District Attorney Anna Winn said Braslavsky and Marshall, who has a real estate license, face up to six years and eight months in prison if convicted. A preliminary hearing has been set for Sept. 24.
A deal is being discussed. “We think that we'll be able to work something out on the 24th,” said James Dicks, Braslavsky's attorney. “We're working on paying restitution to the victims.”
Neither Winn nor Lori Staehling, president of the San Diego Association of Realtors, was aware of other recent cases in the county of people trying to rent foreclosed homes. “This is brazen,” Staehling said.
Smith described it as “taking advantage of a situation that's already been taken advantage of.”
Staehling said there are things people can do to protect themselves, such as verifying ownership through a title insurance company or the county recorder's office. Prospective tenants also can find out whether the property is in default.
Matthew Rodriguez:
(760) 737-7577; matthew.rodriguez@uniontrib.com
