On Tuesday, February 10, 2009, Sacramento Police detectives announced that they had obtained arrest warrants for 52-year-old Phillis Powers, 54-year-old Sandra Barney, 57-year-old Carver Barney, and 49-year-old Dennis Eugene for criminal trespass.

Today, detectives attempted to arrest the suspects at 3700 Clubside Lane. No one was at home at the time. The realtor for Aurora Loan Services was given back control of the property.

On February 2, 2009, the Police Department received a call of two subjects living in a vacant foreclosed home at 3700 Clubside Lane in the city of Sacramento. It was determined that two residents, Sandra Barney and Carver Barney, were in fact living in the home and had rented it from Phillis Powers. Detectives also found that a Dennis Eugene, who was in the house when officers responded, had been hired by a group called Midian to clean up the home but that Eugene was related to the Barney’s.

Detectives determined the real property owner was Aurora Loan Services out of Colorado. Aurora Loan Services bought the property on January 29, 2009. They confirmed with detectives that no one had permission to be in the home and that they had not given anyone permission to rent the property.

It is believed that Phillis Powers, Carver Barney, Sandra Barney, and Dennis Eugene conspired to unlawfully enter 3700 Clubside Lane and thus committed the criminal trespass. Any other intended criminal acts, beyond the criminal trespass, were not completed or could not be proven at this time. “This crime may have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for the community paying attention to what is going on in their neighborhood. This was not a case where innocent victims got scammed into moving into a vacant property but a scam to steal from the property owners,” said Sergeant Norm Leong.

There are many varieties of reality scams but one type preys on occupying vacant homes with the intent of getting the real owners to pay a lump some of money in order to get the homes vacated without a lengthy eviction process. “The Sacramento Police Department will investigate and arrest those individuals who think they can go into a home illegally in order to defraud property owners,” said Detective Mike Wood.