Two Laguna Niguel brothers who ran a business that supposedly offered rental listings for hard-to-find Section 8 housing have been ordered to pay $6 million for what federal officials called a scam that preyed on low-income, disabled and older people.
The Federal Trade Commission obtained the judgment last week in federal court against Steven and Kevin Shayan and Apartment Hunters Inc., their Laguna Niguel-based company that also did business as WeTakeSection8.com. The court also permanently barred them from offering future rental listings.
The company’s state business license was revoked in 2015 and there was no working number for it.
The FTC said that the rental website claimed to have more than a half-million housing options in its database, and subscribers paid up to $15 a week for access to what suposedly were current listings for government-subsidized low-income housing units, the Orange County Register reported.
“In reality, most of the listed properties were either unavailable or did not accept Section 8 housing vouchers,” the FTC alleged.