Officials thought a Lauderhill woman named Sandra Martin was renting out four different properties throughout Broward County when granting her over $80,000 in emergency rental assistance money over the course of two years, deputies say.
But it turned out that she only owned one of them, and none of them had renters. The other three homes belonged to different women, also called Sandra Martin, whose names the Lauderhill woman had used, unbeknownst to them, to fraudulently apply for the assistance, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Sandra Janet Martin, 57, is now charged with organized fraud, grand theft in the second degree, and three counts of criminal use of personal identifying information, court records show.
In February 2021, Broward County received $100 million through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, or ERAP, established by the federal government during the pandemic to give grants to counties that they could then disburse to residents in need of rental aid. Landlords and tenants would apply together through the program, which would then directly pay the landlords, relieving the burden on renters who were desperate to keep up with their own payments or face eviction.
Broward County officials initially contacted the Property Appraiser’s Office about Martin because they thought she was receiving a Homestead Exemption, the office said in a news release. The office’s exemption fraud unit investigated and determined she did not violate the Homestead Exemption but had fraudulently received ERAP funding.
From June 2021 until July 2022, Martin had applied for funding on behalf of three properties located in in Margate, Deerfield Beach, and Oakland Park as well as her own home in Lauderhill, claiming they had renters, according to the affidavit. She received $81,950 from ERAP, then either cashed or deposited the money.
Investigators spoke with several of the renters Martin had claimed were in the homes, all of whom said they had never rented there or signed a lease agreement. They also spoke to the owners of the other three properties, also named Sandra Martin, who said they had never rented out the properties.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Martin on Tuesday.
“The insightful actions of Broward County in contacting the Broward County Property Appraiser stopped the fraudulent scheme,” the Property Appraiser’s office said in a statement. “The collaborative efforts of Marty Kiar, the Broward County Property Appraiser, Sheriff Dr. Gregory Tony, the Broward County Sheriff, and Harold Pryor, the State Attorney of Broward County, are holding alleged criminals accountable.”
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