A Dallas-based landlord has been accused in court of buying thousands of cheap homes in Southern California after the Great Recession, fixing them up, then bilking 18 cities and counties out of millions of dollars in unpaid permit fees and property taxes.
Blackbird Special Project, owned by La Jolla businessman Neil Senturia, filed the whistleblower lawsuit against Invitation Homes in 2020 based on software that used artificial intelligence to confirm the alleged fraud, the San Bernardino Sun reported. The entity could be in line for a significant reward if the suit leads to recoveries for local governments.
The civil complaint was unsealed by a San Diego judge late last year.
The lawsuit alleges Invitation Homes obtained building permits for less than 7 percent of the more than 6,700 single-family homes it owns in San Diego, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Moreno Valley, Riverside, Compton, Temecula, Palmdale, Lancaster, San Bernardino, Vallejo, Fontana, Murrieta, Fairfield, Perris, Yucaipa, Corona, and Rialto.
The complaint filed in a San Diego County court lists 18 cities as plaintiffs.
The vast majority of the Invitation Home renovations required permits – for demolishing and building sections of single-family homes, installing and demolishing pools, and significantly altering electrical work – that were not obtained, according to the civil complaint.
“Once the single-family homes were renovated without the required permits, Invitation Homes rented them to tenants who were...
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