Seniors forced to sell their trailer home shelters to pay homeowner association lawyers Peters & Freedman

November 06, 2004

By David Osterpil
Copyright AHRC News Services

CLICK HERE TO VIEW FOX 6 NEWS REPORT ON SAN DIEGO HOMEOWNER ASSOCIATION FORECLOSURES AND LAWSUITS

They came from far and near to enjoy the California blue sky and sunshine in their retirement years. They thought that the dry desert air near Palm Springs would ease the aches and pains of their years.

Instead, they found aches and pains of a worse kind.

For the past 10 years, these seniors have been buffeted by a legal hurricane that has driven many of them from their homes, and almost bankrupted many who stayed.

The seniors say that when they arrived at Desert Crest, a mobile home park near Palm Springs, the CC&R's of the homeowner association did not require them to pay dues to a pitch and putt golf course and swimming pool that the developer had installed nearby.

The developer, OSCA Development, then began to sue the homeowners to force them to pay. Some of these seniors were in their 80's and 90's and were not able to use either facility.

Initially, the developer did not fare well in court - but then, he hit upon another strategy. Residents say that the developer hired a John Ford to move into the association, take control of it, and change the CC&R's to require mandatory payment of dues. The developer also hired the law firm of Peters and Freedman.

Sure enough, Ford moved into the association, engineered the takeover of the board, and proceeded to change the CC&R's with the help of the Peters & Freedman foreclosure lawyers..

Lawsuits followed. At the trial court level, the seniors prevailed - but then, Peters and Freedman appealed the cases. The appellate court overruled the trial court and ordered the seniors to pay both current and past dues of $79 per month, lawyers fees, late charges and interests..

The result has been devastating.

Approximately 150 liens were filed on homes. One resident reports that each homeowner had to pay about $9,000 - $6,000 of which went to the law firm of Peters and Freedman. The total bill is estimated at about $1,350,000.

But that is not the end of the story.

It is reported that about 50 seniors sold their homes at fire sale prices to local realtors in order to be able to pay the judgment. It is estimated that the realtors were snapping up $40,000 homes for $20,000. If correct, that would be another $1,000,000 lost by the seniors. Approximately 20 seniors died during this process.

The seniors went to every possible government office for help - the district attorney, secretary of state, department of corporations etc. - and not one single agency did anything.

The seniors are particularly disturbed and angry that their local state senator, Jim Battin, did absolutely nothing. As one senior said, "You have to live in a million dollar home before Battin will help you."

The seniors are also fiercely critical of the law firm of Peters and Freedman. "They are like locusts on the land" said one senior, "devouring everything in their path."

This law firm has been criticized throughout much of Southern California. Homeowners say that they manufacture law suits, get crippling judgments against homeowners and misuse the courts to terrorize victims and their families for years before taking their homes.

As many homeowners sit in the financial rubble that is Desert Crest, they wonder how their country can let these things happen to them. Many have served in the military, putting their lives in harm's way to defend their country. Some now say that it is their very own country that is putting them in harm's way, by creating laws that allow lawyers to financially crucify them.

The sun is still shining in the California blue sky at Desert Crest, but there is little or no sunshine in the hearts of many seniors who live there.

NOTES - FOX 6 NEWS - SAN DIEGO continues the homeowner association foreclosure investigation

Pete Fuentes, an award winning journalist from Fox 6 News, won an award in 2001 for an investigative story on Homeowner Associations.

In 2003, California Senate candidate Jim Galley and AHRC co-ordinated a homeowner press conference to discuss the Peters & Freedman lawsuits and foreclosures. Peters & Freedman subpoened FOX 6 News tapes. This is a continuing investigation by FOX 6 News