by Timothy Rutt
One of the two women who may be victims of a rental scam has been told to vacate her house by the end of the month, but there are still issues with water on their property.
Marjorie McNary said that she had been ordered by the court to vacate the house she's living in by Feb. 29. McNary, who moved into the house on the 2800 block of Casitas Avenue in November, had her water shut off in early January, but it was restored several days later after political pressure was applied to the water company.
McNary, and Mary O'Connor, who lives in a guest house in the back of the property, may be victims of a fraud, according to the Altadena sheriff's station. Both women signed a lease to the property, but deputies believe they may be victims of an increasingly-common rental scam where someone takes over a foreclosed vacant house and rents it out, without the knowledge of the home's actual owner.
In the women's case, The Peace Officers Professional Association Credit Union was the owner of record and ordered the water shut off Jan. 12. According to Bob Hayward, general manager of the Lincoln Avenue Water Company, it was not known that the property was occupied at the time. Water was restored Jan. 17, but Lincoln Avenue Water wanted a $500 deposit. The women managed to scrape up $250 with the help of a donor, and Lincoln Avenue agreed to keep the water on as long as the rest of the deposit was paid by Feb. 21.
Both women are disabled and living on Social Security.
But there are other issues: McNary said this week that hot water has been "leaking like a stream" out of her bathtub for over a week, and she's not going to call a plumber because she's been told she's occupying the property unlawfully: "It ain't my place to fix nobody else's house and I'm moving out," McNary said.
McNary said that she thinks she's found a place to move to, for $950 a month.
Over in the guest house, O'Connor said that she's had plumbing problems as well: she's not getting water from her bathroom taps, the toilet isn't working, and the bathtub faucet only lets out a trickle. She is also worried about the Feb. 21 deadline on a deposit, because she said McNary doesn't want to pay towards it.
"I don't have $250 extra, I don't know what I'm going to do," O'Connor said.
O'Connor says that she hasn't received any notice to move out yet.
Lincoln Avenue Water's Hayward said that the property was racking up a "tremendous water bill, because they have plumbing problems that nobody wants to fix … they're wasting a lot of water."
UPDATE: Lt. Duane Allen of the Altadena sheriff's station said the investigation is continuing: "It's been really, really labor intensive, but we haven't stopped yet." He said he expects arrests in the matter soon.
