Sunday, June 20, 2010

So we were all enthralled and saddened when poor Lynne Curtin of Real Housewives of Orange County was evicted from her beautiful Laguna Beach rental and we sympathized with her shock that her husband pulled this one over on her.
What she failed to mention is that this is not her first ride on the eviction train, in fact she has been evicted three times.
Eviction No. 1, Orange County Superior Court Case No. 00CC00902:
Filed January 13, 2000, and judgment entered against Lynne on March 2, 2001. I have to give her props, eviction proceedings in California are summary proceedings the process is supposed to go as follows:
1. After tenant is late on rent you post a 3 day notice to pay or quit the premises
2. If tenant does not pay or vacate you file an unlawful detainer (fancy legalese for eviction) complaint in Court
3. Tenant has 5 days to respond
4. If tenant does not respond then landlord can file a request to enter default judgment, if tenant responds then landlord must file a request to set case for trial
5. Court is obligated under California law to set the case for trial within 20 calendar days
Somehow Lynne was able to draw out the proceedings for well over a year, which means she didn't pay a dime of rent for at least 16 months. Well done. Well done.
The landlord's attorney was Dennis P. Block & Associates which is a well known eviction firm, but this was not their best effort letting this squatter hang around for more than a year.
Eviction No. 2, Orange County Superior Court Case No. 07SL00736; Mercury Manzano v. Lynne Curtin:
Filed 2/9/07, and judgment entered against Lynne on 3/5/07 after a Court Trial. Plaintiff's attorney was another well known eviction lawyer John Bouzane, who did a nice job obtaining judgment in less than a month.
Lynne and her husband Frank seem to have quite the relationship with this Mercury Manzano as another case was filed by, one Mercury Manzano, against them in Riverside County in which a judgment was obtained for failing to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans. Let's just say I feel for Mercury Manzano. Either Lynne and her husband Frank are very convincing or Mercury is not exactly Warren Buffett.
Eviction No. 3, Orange County Superior Court Case No. 30-2009-00249269; Marianne J. Moy v. Lynne Curtin:
Filed 3/4/09, and judgment entered against Lynne on 4/22/09 in the amount of $13,480. This was the high profile eviction as televised on Bravo as Lynne's daughters were served with the eviction papers. Lynne put on a great display of shock as if she could not believe she could possibly be evicted, but as we see above it was quite an act.
Plaintiff's attorney was Kimball, Tirey & St. Johns yet another well known eviction firm. Lynne has now been sued by three of the main eviction firms in SoCal, all she needs is two more evictions by David Endres and Randall Naiman and she will officially have been evicted by all high-volume eviction attorneys in SoCal. Now that would be quite an achievement.
One word of advice to future landlords of the Curtins: PREPAY!

Anyone Want To Invest In Real Estate Development?

Real Estate Tycoons Frank & Lynne Curtin are in a bit of hotwater again, this time judgment has been entered against them in Riverside County in the amount of 1.26 million for failure to repay "loans" made to them for real estate development investments.
The case is Mercury Manzano v. Frank Curtin, Lynne Curtin and Christopher Curtin, Riverside Superior Court Case No. RIC474089.
Manzano sued the Curtins for Breach of Contract; Common Counts and Fraud. Some of the allegations from the complaint:
- On May 31, 2005, Manzano lent Christopher Curtin $150,000, the loan was memorialized with a promissory note.
- On October 1 2005, Manzano lent Frank Curtin $500,000, the loan was memorialized with a promissory note.
- On January 1, 2006, Manzano lent Frank Curtin $200,000, the loan was memorialized with a promissory note.
- On September 1, 2006, Manzano lent Frank & Lynne Curtin $517,500, the loan was memorialized by a note and a deed of trust secured by property located at 2861 Chateau Way, Laguna Beach, CA.
- On September 1, 2006, Manzano lent Frank & Lynne Curtin $600,000, the loan was memorialized by a note and a deed of trust secured by property located at 21 Vista De La Luna, Laguna Beach, CA.
The Curtins failed to repay any of the notes and the Plaintiff was forced to foreclose the 2 Laguna Beach properties losing $150,000 on Chateau Way and $175,000 on Vista De La Luna.
So once the dust had settled the Curtins ran away with $1,175,000.
In the fraud claims the Plaintiff alleged that at the time the loans were made the Curtins never had any intention of repaying them and that they have engaged in similar fraudulent conduct in the past.
Another classic quote from the lawsuit "The Curtins held themselves out as experienced contractors and developers of residential properties."
Manzano won his lawsuit and now holds a 1.26 million dollar judgment against the Curtins. Lynne is going to have to sell a lot of cuffs to pay that back but it may not ever come to that as I smell a bankruptcy coming.....stay tuned.