Woman will be held ‘criminally responsible’ after hitting homeowners with massive liens, DA says

Rita Ortiz, the woman nicknamed the “Queen of Lien,” pleaded not guilty Monday after being accused of 25 counts of submitting false documents.

His hearing followed weeks of reporting by the 7 On Your Side Investigates team. Huge liens worth millions of dollars It attacked homeowners in Southern California.

But we learned from prosecutors on Monday that their concerns go beyond those liens.

In the courtroom, we saw Ortiz behind Plexiglas; prosecutors called him both a “financial” and “physical” threat.

It is said that Ortiz tried to break into the house where a family with young children lived.

Prosecutors say the family is now afraid to be in their own home every day.

The district attorney’s office also told the court that Ortiz filed a deed claiming ownership of the property immediately after he was evicted two weeks ago from the home that prosecutors said he was “occupying.”

Prosecutors say this further clouds the beneficiary’s title.

LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman spoke about this case during an appearance on Eyewitness News on Monday.

“This individual has gone ahead and filed numerous liens, multimillion-dollar liens that we will prove in court to be fraudulent, and now he is going to be held criminally liable for those — potentially going to state prison as a result,” Hochman said.

This all comes after we shared stories of Beverly Hills-area homeowners who say Ortiz charged them $24 million in mortgages for his unpaid cleaning and consulting work.

These owners say they never hired Ortiz for any job.

After a prosecutor successfully argued to keep his bail at $700,000, Ortiz responded, “Everything you said is a lie.”

The next hearing date was set for March 12.