Actor held to answer in Redwood City real estate fraud case

Co-defendant Tonika Lynette Miller, 34, of Studio City was ordered transported to state prison Jan. 16 for her three years and four months sentence.

Weeks before the July 2018 auction of the home of the Redwood City woman who had defaulted on property taxes, Miller, a licensed real estate agent, and Hall took the Redwood City woman to Applebee’s, bought her two margaritas and then offered her a $500,000 “reverse mortgage” with the ability to live on the property until her death, prosecutors said.

Miller gave the woman $1,000 in cash and had her sign a grant deed in favor of Rex Regum, LLC, solely by owned Hall, prosecutors said.

The deed claimed the woman was paid $800,000 for the property, prosecutors said.

The woman never received $800,000 and maintains that she did not know she was signing over ownership of the property, prosecutors said.

Hall recorded the grant deed later that same day and immediately paid the delinquent property taxes, prosecutors said.

The county Recorder’s Office reported the incident because the sale price was so far below market value, according to prosecutors.

Hall sold the property in 2018 to a third party for $997,000 and Miller later went with a U-Haul to the house and tried to get the woman to move out of the property, prosecutors said.

Miller brought a real estate agent with her to assist the woman in finding a new property to buy in Auburn, prosecutors said.