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A Letter
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Investigation on Homeowner Association Foreclosure Filings - Part 2
The Hockleys Seek Restitution Of Their Home From Peters & Freedman
August 02, 2006
By
John & Judith Hockley
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| Encinitas, California - PART 1: INVESTIGATION OF FORECLOSURE FILINGS
Reveals Serious Flaws By Lawyers,Peters & Freedman
A SUMMARY FROM PART ONE
The law firm of Peters and Freedman with offices in Encinitas and Palm Desert, California, claim to represent five hundred homeowner associations. A number of homeowners have been investigating some of the practices of this law firm, especially when they conducted foreclosure sales on behalf of homeowner associations. The following information is preliminary and AHRC will bring additional information as it becomes available.
The investigating homeowners have so far focused on 5 foreclosures:
• Carlos Sosa vs Carmen Lomardo
• Carlos Sosa vs William Morris
• Carlos Sosa vs John Leslie Hockley
• Carlos Sosa vs George Harder
• Melissa Colburn vs Carlos Sosa,Peters and Freedman et al.
The first 4 cases were quiet title cases brought by Sosa after he acquired the properties in foreclosures conducted by Peters and Freedman. The fifth case deals with a homeowner who sued to get her home back after she discovered that it had been bought by Carlos Sosa in a foreclosure handled by Peters and Freedman.
Each foreclosure has the following in common.
1. The foreclosure sale was handled by David Peters of Peters and Freedman.
2. The notice of foreclosure sale was posted in a publication called Uptown Examiner. It has a circulation of approximately 165.
3. Each home was sold to the same attorney, Carlos Sosa. (A homeowners, who did not want his identity revealed told AHRC that Carlos Sosa once serviced his insurance business and David Peters worked with Sosa.)
4. The homes were sold at foreclosure for amounts ranging from $1400 to $7,000. The equity in each home was estimated to be between $150,000 to $300,000.
The homeowners who are investigating these cases claim that there were both improprieties and outright violations of the law.
1. They claim that it is at least improper for the homeowner association lawyers to handle the foreclosure sale on behalf of the association. The entity conducting the foreclosure sale is supposed to be a neutral third party.
2. The investigation showed in these 5 cases that the publication of the notice of sale violated Civil Code Sec. 2924(f). That section requires "publishing a copy once a week for 3 consecutive calendar weeks". The investigators claim that the notice of sale may have been published 3 times, but not for "3 consecutive calendar weeks". Foreclosure provisions are interpreted strictly in the law.
3. The Rules of Professional Conduct of the California State Bar prohibit a member lawyer from purchasing a property from a lawyer with whom he has a "personal, business or professional relationship". The rule states:
PART 2: INVESTIGATION OF FORECLOSURE FILINGS
The Hockleys Seek Restitution Of Their Home From Peters & Freedman
Attorney George Harder, one of the above five Peters & Freedman victims, filed suit in a New York bankruptcy court and and recovered his home.
A second victim, Melissa Colburn filed a RICCO case after speaking to George Harder, and a couple of other Peters & Freedman foreclosure victims. She then published the information on AHRC. When newspapers and TV stations began calling, Peters & Freedman quickly paid Melisssa a settlement, returned her home, and had her sign a confidentiality statement to stop her from speaking about their foreclosure practices.
Recently out of state family members of a third Peters & Freedman victim, the Hockleys, read about the sale of their Cameowood Condominium Association on AHRC.
The Hockley had lost their jobs and owed Cameowood Association $450. David Peters, the Cameowood lawyer and trustee sold their home for $2515 to Carlos Sosa. Some believe that Sosa is a colleague of Peters.
Like George Harder and Melissa Colburn, the Hockleys claim that they did not receive any notices from either the Association or Peters & Freedman. They received an eviction notice a year later from the new owner Sosa.
The Hockleys, who are now seeking restitution and legal help, sent the following to AHRC:
SEEKING RESTITUTION FROM THE LAW FIRM OF PETERS & FREEDMAN FOR ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF OUR HOME
Let it be known that John L. Hockley, Jr. and Judith L Hockley are seeking restitution from the law firm of Peters & Freedman for the illegal possession of our home at Golden Circle Dr., Escondido, California 92026, in the County of San Diego, on September 4, 2001.
On September 4, 2001, my husband and I received a "Three Day Notice to Quit" from the Law Offices of Kimball, Tirey & St. John.
At this time, we were buying our home at Golden Circle Drive, Escondido, CA 92026.
I called the law firm the following morning, 9/5/01, because I believed at that time that they had made a mistake. I spoke with a young man that answered the phone and explained to him that we had received the notice but that my husband and I were buying our home, not renting, and that I felt someone in the law firm had made a mistake and that I would like to speak with someone to clear this up.
He placed me on hold for about 5 minutes and when he got back on the phone, he informed me that there wasn't anyone in his office that I could speak to at that time. I left my phone number and asked him to please have someone call me as soon as possible.
Within the next 3 days, I caJled the Law Offices of Kimball, Tirey & St. John 7 times asking if someone could please call me regarding this matter. No one at the firm ever returned my call.
On 9/7/01,1 sent a fax of the notices that we had received to the Law Offices of Kimball. Tirey & St. John, with a note on the cover sheet that I had been trying to reach someone in their office and asked them to call me. No one returned my call.
On 9/17/01,1 sent the fax again, stating that if they could not help me, could they let me know who could. No one in the Law Offices of Kimball, Tirey & St. John ever responded.
On 9/19/01, my husband and I went to the San Marcos courthouse to inquire if any papers had been filed against our home.
This is when we realized that we had not owned our home for about 1 year. We received many papers from the courthouse stating that our house had been sold.
I contacted the Lawyer Referral Service in San Diego North County. An attorney called me back stating that we would need to have the money for a very large retainer fee.
My husband had been out of work and we didn't have that kind of money.
I then sent a letter to the Law Offices of Kimball, Tirey & St. John asking them if we could make arrangements to pay rent for 60 to 90 days while I locate another place to live. No on at the law firm ever responded.
We moved out of our home on Golden Circle Drive, Escondido, CA 92026 at the end of September, 2001. |
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