Claremont Business Not Tied to One Under Investigations, According to Owners

Operators of a Claremont-based property management company say they been forced to field complaints from upset customers from a rental company that has been using the same name.

Both businesses are known as Rent Today. There is an office in Fullerton. The Inland Empire business is based in Claremont and Ontario. Customers’ confusion over a connection between the two has become even more alarming since the Fullerton Police began an investigation of the Orange County group.

On April 4, officers served a search warrant on that company's offices in the 2700 block of East Chapman Avenue, where officers arrested and booked four employees on suspicion of theft, said Fullerton Police Sgt. Jeff Stuart said.

The four have not been charged as prosecutors have requested more investigation, Stuart said.

An alleged victim went to police March 21 complaining that they paid Rent Today in Fullerton a fee, but the addresses the company supplied did not exist, Stuart said.

Fullerton detectives then set up an undercover sting posing as potential renters who paid a $160 fee for a list of available apartments for rent, Stuart said. The addresses either did not exist or were not available for rent, Stuart alleged.

Investigators also determined that the company's employees are not licensed in California, Stuart said.

Investigators are asking anyone whom the rental service may have victimized to call Fullerton Police at (714) 738-6800.

So far, 14 people have come forward with complaints about the business Rent Today, which has offices in Fullerton, Stuart said.

Detectives suspect the company targeted Spanish-speaking customers, believing that they would be reluctant to report any complaints to police, Stuart said.

Meantime Mia Melle, president of Rent Today based in the Inland Empire, said her company has nothing to do with the store in Fullerton and alleged that "company stole our name, so they're proliferating the confusion between the two companies."

Rent Today in Ontario and Claremont does not provide rental lists, Melle said.

"We had gotten some calls with people complaining, but we didn't know what they were talking about," Melle said. "We went to Fullerton to see what this was all about and the police were there when we pulled up."

"We have nothing to do with whatever they were doing" in Fullerton, Melle said.

- City News Service contributed to this report.