Neighbors Put the Skids Under Effort to Steal House

Neighbors weren’t at all surprised when the heavy-duty tow truck showed up Wednesday afternoon at the vacant house in the 4400 block of Vista del Monte in Sherman Oaks. They knew exactly what to expect, police said, when three workers began sawing two trees near the entrance of the property:

Somebody had come to steal the house.

Over the past two weeks, workers had sawed the house from its foundation, hoisted it onto a row of beams and prepared to tow it away, probably to sell to someone looking for a bargain on a used house, according to police.

Police said they had notified neighbors to be on the lookout for would-be house thieves after the absentee owner, Lloyd Farber, 41, of Agoura, noticed his house was standing four feet off the ground on metal stilts when he came to inspect the property Sept. 12. Neighbors were told to call police at the first sign of suspicious activity, Sgt. Tim Day said.

The plan worked.

The laborers were arrested on suspicion of grand theft by officers who had been alerted by the neighbors, Day said. Police said it was not clear whether the workers knew that they did not have permission to take the house.

Altadena Company

The workers said they had been hired to move the house by the owner of an Altadena house-towing company who was not identified as a suspect and has not been arrested, Day said.

Day would not identify the arrested men.

The men planned to move the house sometime Wednesday night, he said. The house was ready to be towed as soon as it was hooked to a tow truck, he said.

The men were arrested after they were unable to produce a contract or other documents to show they were entitled to take the house, Day said.

Farber had taken out an ad in The Times in July announcing that the house was for sale to anyone who was willing to buy it and tow it away, Day said. He planned to build a condominium or apartment complex on the property, Day said. Farber could not be reached for comment.

“This is the first time in 20 years I’ve ever seen anything like it,” Day said.