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Press Release
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Elderly Face Retirement Nightmares in California Homeowners Association
Many losing homes and life savings to CAI collection lawyers' rackets
July 31, 2002
By
AHRC News Services
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Desert Hot Sprngs, California - For Immediate release
The Desert Sun is a newspaper serving Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage and Desert Hot Springs in Southern California.
This area has many homeowner associations. Seniors retire here. Some live in moderately priced mobile homes. Many fall prey to Community Association Institute (CAI) foreclosure lawyers.
Margaret Wangler is a CAI lawyer with the Fiore, Racobs & Powers law group. She does lawsuits for associations. She also writes a homeowner advice column in the Desert Sun.
Ms Wangler is also the association lawyer for Desert Crest Community Association, a senior mobile home community mired in foreclosure lawsuits.
Homeowners here have been taken into court dozens of times. The judges have always ruled for the seniors and told them they do not have to pay fees to a private club if they do not use and if they do not own it. He also told them that they do not come under the Davis Stiling laws as they do not own anything in common. The county owns the streets.
Nevertheless, CAI lawyers Peters & Freedman keep taking them into court repeatedly trying to foreclose on their homes to collect club and lawyers fees.
Some seniors, many are widows in their eighties, have given their homes to the association and moved away. Others have paid paid the lawyers whatever they demanded to stop the harassment and intimidation .
Still others have been calling on government offices and representatives for help. So far no one has helped. The California Department of Real Estate asked one homeowner to call American Homeowners Resource Center.
A nephew of one of the victims, a personal injury lawyer, filed a lawsuit on behalf of his aunt Eva Sanchez and fifteen other seniors . A jury trial has been scheduled for November in the Indio courthouse. Charges against the association and the board include for fraud, misrepresentation, violation of civil rights, harassment, elder abuse, mental and and emotional distress, threats and intimidation. Advocates are working to bring this elder abuse case to the attention of the national and world media.
This Friday Peters & Freedman will take several more seniors into court to collect club and their lawyer fees. So far the seniors have always won the cases... but they are very tired and running out steam, energy and hope. The kind lawyer that donated his time to protect them in the past several years has passed away. The new lawyer is charing them $250 an hour and has already billed them $21,000. They have spent all the money they raised from donations friends and neighbors. Now they are terrified about losing their little mobile homes to the lawyers.
They need help from fellow homeowners. They need the media on their side and their government to protect them from this foreclosure scam.
They do not need their association lawyer advertising herself as a homeowner advisor in their local paper and referring homeowners to CAI lawyers. All CAI lawyers the homeowners called told them only represent associations, not homeowners.
Please call Charles Honeycutt (760)329-7603 or Shirley Cottom (760)251-3175 if your can help.
Story Updates:
October 3, 2002 ..Desert Sun is working on an investigative story.
October 4, 2002..Judge Stafford has again ruled for the homeowners. The four homeowners paid their lawyer $40,000 ($250 per hour) for this foreclosure defence. The judge has ruled they can recover their legal fees and has askd their lawyer to submit the bill to the court for approval.
Contact list for this story;
To view court cases Search OSCA Development, Desert Crest Community Association, John Ford, John A. Erickson, Desert Crest County Club,
Willowdean Vance - homeowner activist - has extensive information on Fiore and Peters & Freedman foreclosure activities (949)770-6019 or (813)631-0423. She has filed numerous complaints with the various governmental agencies about both these lawfirms.
Melvin Thomas - attorney, CPA and broker. He has donated alot of time writing articles educating homeowners about homeowner associations. He has extensive knowledge base about the practices of CAI homeowner association lawyers and mangers. .(760)731-1000
AHRC News Services (949)366-2125 AHRC has received numerous complaints on both Fiore, Racobs & Powers and Peters & Freedman. They have have been sending them to the authorities.
Charles Honeycutt - a government retiree in Desert Crest Community Association and victim of several lawsuits. Has filed complaints with the county and state authorities.(760)329-7603
Shirley Cottom (760)251-3175 - one of several Desert Crest Community Association residents facing a foreclosure suit by Peters & Freedman this Friday. She was a board member that John Ford recalled.
Dave Barela- attorney for seniors His aunt Eva Sanchez lives here and has been subjected to repeated harassment, humiliation and lawsuits. He has filed an elder abuse lawsuit against the association, the club owners and John Ford. on behalf of 12 seniors. CHUBB Insurance is defending the board. Peters & Freedman is defendig the club, The case is set for a jury trial in November. (909)861-1111
Doug Rosnerjattorney for seniors He read the AHRC press release and joined his law school classmate , Dave Barela, to help the seniors with their case. (818)501-8400
Judge Charles E, Stafford Jr (760)863-8127- Superior Court, Commissioner Hudspeth- Palm Springs Small Claims Court - , Judge Lawrence W.Fry (760)-863-8127 All the judges repeatedly ruled for the homeowners - County of Riverside Courts , California
The Desert Sun a Gannet Newspaper- Publisher Robert Dickey, Execiutive Editor Steve Silberman, Managing Editor Julie Shirley. Margaret Wangler, the board's lawyer writes the "homeowner advice column" in the Desert Sun. The homeowners want a pro-homeowner columnist. They have cancelled their subscription in protest.
Margaret Wangler - with Fiore, Racobs, Powers et al..attorney for the board at Desert Crest Community Association . She writes a "consumer" column in the Desert Sun and refers homeowners to CAI lawyers, who make a living suing homeowners and others in associations. Homeowners called several CAI lawyers to represent them against the association and the club owner. All refused to take their case.
Simon Freedman and David Peters - lawyers represented the board when John Ford took over the association and changed the CCRs to mandate fees to the private club. After changing the CCRs Ford moved to become president and CEO of the club. Peters & Freedmen continued advising Ford ,began representing the Club and have been taking the homeowners to court repeatedly to collect fees for this private club. Homeowners are questioning Peters & Freedman's conflicts of interest(760)436-3441
John Ford - ex-President of Desert Crest Community Association, CEO and President of country club until the club was sold to investors He worked with lawyers to change CCRs to mandate fees to country club after the owners were told by judges they did not have to pay unless they wanted to use the club. Later he became president and CEO of the club and is using Peters&Freedman to harass homeowners with repeated lawsuits. So far the the judges have ruled for the owners in 14 lawsuits. The repeated lawsuits have taken a toll. In the last lawsuit, four of the seniors died while waiting to go the court. Two turned in their lots to make the lawsuit go away. Others, terrified of being made homeless, paid everything the lawyers asked. Four went to court. Judge Stafford again told Simon Freedman that the owners could not be forced to pay mandatory fees to a private business.
Jack Erickson - developer - owner of OSCA Development and the club. The seniors say he financed John Ford's recall of the old board and the CCR change.
Jim Battin - California State Senator represents these senior victims. He ignores homeowner calls. He has been busy helping write laws for builders and vendors.
California Governor Gray Davis (D) - asked a CAI lobbyist to write the the California homeowner laws and "take care of the lobbyists" . The lobbyists have paid him back handsomely - $43,000,000 flowed to his bank account. In return he appoints industry lobbyists to head government offices e.g. the Department of Real Estate and makes sure no laws are passed to hinder the millions flowing into lobbyists and his pockets.
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D)- worked closely with CAI lawyers when he was a legislator. He keeps on takings millions from lobbyist and refuses to protect homeowners and seniors who face civil rights violations and fraudulent forecloses. CAI lawyers and lobbyists have contributed millions to him. He uses all his resources to sue people but not the the white collar corporate criminals or the CAI foreclosure barons who prey on homeowners and seniors and take their homes.
CHUBB Insurance - provides defense for Desert Crest Homeowner association board. CHUBB was receiving $60,000,000 in state mandated premiums from homeowners and using this money to defend rogue boards and managers even when they broke the law. They gave premium kickbacks to CAI lawyers and managers for selling Directors & Officers liability policies.
Senator Jackie Speier - Chair of the California Senate Insurance Committee . Speier has the duty to see that insurance companies abide by laws. Homeowners complained to her that state mandated insurance policies are used to to 1) cover board members who break the law 2) cover managers - homeowners should not have to pay for vendors policies 3) give premium kickbacks to CAI lawyers and managers 4) litigate against them in court by law breaking boards and managers. Many who lost life savings and homes asked Speier to hold hearings on insurance abuse by CHUBB. Speier, uses Davis, California's foreclosure baron, to draw lobbyists to her fund raisers and ignores insurance company fraud. |
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