2 Arrested in Phony Rental-Listing Scheme

The owners of two companies that listed apartments and houses for rent have been arrested for allegedly providing customers with phony listings, Los Angeles police said Thursday.

Police said the companies--Rental Connection of Sherman Oaks and Citywide Rentals Inc. of West Hollywood--advertised as available for rent homes that did not exist or were already rented. The two firms, which had operated under a variety of names, attracted 4,000 to 5,000 customers since 1982, charging fees of $50, Detective Greg Schwien said.

Arrested Wednesday on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grand theft were Roberta Wichman, 31, of Van Nuys, and George Caceres, 28, of Hollywood, the co-owners of both firms.

The pair attracted business by placing advertisements in local newspapers describing attractive rentals, mostly in the San Fernando Valley, at reasonable prices, the detective said. But after customers paid their fees and inquired about the advertised rentals, they were given a phone number connected to an answering machine operated by the rental firms, he said.

“Calls were never returned,” Schwien said, “because the advertised rentals never really existed.”

Newspaper advertisements by the Rental Connection published Thursday described an unfurnished house in Woodland Hills under the heading, “COUNTRY CLUB & VIEW, $425,” and a house in Chatsworth with, “FIREPLACE AND GARAGE, $500.”

Customers also were given a listing of 2,000 “available” rentals, but detectives who posed as prospective renters found that many of the listings had been rented months earlier or were not what the listings had said they were, Schwien said.

Police began a six-month investigation of the rental firms last year after receiving a tip from a former employee, Schwien said. The investigation included interviews with former employees and customers and reviews of complaints made to the state Department of Real Estate and the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs, Schwien said.

The rental firms run by Caceres and Wichman changed names several times since 1982, apparently to avoid creditors and government regulators, Schwien said.

Rental Connection is located at 13551 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, and Citywide Rentals Inc. at 8285 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, the detective said.

Wichman and Caceres could not be reached for comment Thursday. They have been released on $1,500 bond pending a March 25 arraignment in Los Angeles Municipal Court, he said.