The Bastards Aren't Immune to Our Legal System...$1,625,000 settlement

I pulled the following from the Endeman Lincoln Turek & Heater website.  Goes to show you that the Tatum Kaplan bullies can be beaten.

Tatum-Kaplan Financial Group v. Ryan Davis
Orange County Superior Court Case No. 30-2009-00121487-CU-NP-CXC
[Related Case No. 30-2008-00112959-CU-BC-CXC]

The residents of the Orange Mobilehome Park located in Orange County won a significant battle in their lawsuit against the Park owner. Shortly after the residents filed suit over the substandard conditions at the mobilehome Park, the Park owner retaliated by suing one of the plaintiffs, Ryan Davis, for Malicious Prosecution. We represented plaintiff Ryan Davis. The Orange County Superior Court held the Malicious Prosecution lawsuit was a SLAPP Suit (Strategic Litigation Against Plaintiff), threw the case out of court and awarded our client his attorney fees and cost which totaled $50,000, when the case settled.

Orange Mobile Home Park
Irma Aguila, et al. v. Orangewood Investments, L.P.
Orange County Superior Court Case No. 30-2008-00112959-CU-BC-CJC

The residents of the Orange Mobile Home Park settled this lawsuit against their Park owner for $1,625,000. The Park owner did not own the land upon which the Park was built but instead had a contract with the land owner granting him the right to operate the Park. This contract was due to expire and for the last several years the Park owner refused to maintain the Park. As a result, the residents started having problems with the Park's sewer and electrical utilities. The sewer would back up and flow into residents' yards and down the street. The electrical system did not provide adequate power, causing blackouts and brownouts. The residents banded together and sued the Park owner over these conditions. Endeman Lincoln Turek & Heater represented them. The case settled for $1,625,000 at the time the contract to operate the Park expired. The land owner is now in the process of rehabbing the entire Park. This was a great result, the residents received a very significant amount of money and the Park will be completely rehabilitated.

Possible Arson in Another Tatum Kaplan Owned Park...

It appears that someone has been torching mobile homes in a MCM managed, Tatum Kaplan owned park since last November.  Although we don't condone these dangerous acts, we do understand how anger and frustration with the park management and owners could spur this behavior.  The following articles regarding Swan Lake Mobile Home Park are from The Press-Enterprise:

EASTVALE: Fire damages mobile home

BY STEVEN BARRIE STAFF WRITER  

sbarrie@pe.com

Published: 23 November 2011 10:07 PM

A fire damaged a mobile home tonight in Eastvale, but no one was injured.
Firefighters manage to contain the blaze to the bedroom and bathroom, dousing the flames in less than 30 minutes, the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department said in a news release.
The fire was reported just before 9:30 p.m. burning in the Swan Lake Mobile Home Park in the 5800 block of Hamner Avenue, Cal Fire said. Twenty-two firefighters responded.
The cause of the blaze had not been determined as of 10 p.m.

 

EASTVALE: Second trailer burns at mobile home park

BY DAVID KECK

STAFF WRITER

dkeck@pe.com

Published: 29 January 2012 12:12 PM

A vacant double-wide trailer burned at a sprawling Eastvale mobile home park late Saturday night, the second fire there in two months, officials said.
The fire at the Swan Lake Mobile Country Estates is considered suspicious, Engineer Dru Snider of the Riverside County Fire Department’s Eastvale station said.
No one was at the residence and its electricity and gas connections had been shut off, he said.
No one was injured.
Fire also burned a mobile home at the park Nov. 23, damaging two rooms. No one was injured in that fire either.
Snider said it’s unusual to have two fires at a mobile home park in such a short span.
A passerby reported Saturday’s blaze at the park in the 5800 block of Hamner Avenue at 10:23 p.m., Snider said.
Twenty firefighters and five engines responded, a Cal-Fire/Riverside County fire news release stated.
Located between Limonite and Belgrave avenues and cornered by Interstate 15 and the Eastvale Gateway shopping center, the mobile home park was also where two people were arrested in November on suspicion of crimes related to methamphetamine sales, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Records on calls for sheriff’s service to the Swan Lake Mobile Country Estates over the past few months were not immediately available, department spokeswoman Cpl. Courtney Donowho said by phone Sunday.
A call to the mobile home park’s office on Sunday transferred to an after-hours answering machine.

EASTVALE: Arson blamed for 3 mobile home fires

BY RICHARD BROOKS

STAFF WRITER

rbrooks@pe.com

Published: 30 January 2012 10:01 AM

Arson is to blame for three fires this weekend that caused tens of thousands of dollars damage to three vacant homes at Swan Lake Mobile Home Park in Eastvale, though an earlier blaze was not part of the crime spree, fire officials say.
“These (three) fires were intentionally set,” Cal Fire investigators said in a written statement issued today. “The fires destroyed one mobile home and caused extensive damage to the others.”
Investigators are seeking the public’s help in determining who is responsible.
The first arson blaze was reported at 10:23 p.m. Saturday. The second one erupted at 8:39 p.m. Sunday and burned at least one room of that home. And at 4 a.m. today, the third flared up and caused roughly $10,000 damage, about 20 percent of that building’s estimated value.
The park is along the 5800 block of Hamner Avenue between Limonite and Belgrave Avenues.
Anyone with information about those fires or who notice any suspicious persons or activity at the park may call the Riverside County arson hotline at 800-633-2836.

EASTVALE: Swan Lake residents urged to be cautious

BY SANDRA STOKLEY

STAFF WRITER

sstokley@pe.com

Published: 01 February 2012 06:06 PM

Arson investigators are appealing for the public’s help in apprehending the person or persons responsible for setting a series of fires starting last weekend at Swan Lake Mobile Country Estates in Eastvale.
All three coaches were vacant and there were no injuries, but the fires destroyed one mobile home and caused extensive damage to two others, Jody Hagemann, spokeswoman for Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department, said in a news release.
Damage is estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
The department’s Fire Prevention Bureau announced this week that the fires were intentionally set.
Because of the ongoing investigation, Hagemann declined to reveal if investigators believe one person or several people were suspected of starting the blazes.
A passerby reported the Jan. 28 blaze at the park in the 5800 block of Hamner Avenue at 10:23 p.m. The second was at 8:39 p.m. Jan. 29 and the third was 4 a.m. Jan. 30.
A fire also burned a mobile home at the 717-space park Nov. 23, damaging two rooms. Hagemann said that blaze is not believed to be connected to this week’s fires.
Eastvale Police Chief, Capt. Danny Feltenberger, said the department has offered the services of a liaison detective to work on the investigation.
Jim Nicholl, Swan Lake’s on-site general manager, said Wednesday that he has ordered additional security patrols and sent a letter to residents informing them of the arson.
“We’re urging them to be alert and cautious,” Nicholl said. “We’re very concerned. This is something very unusual.”
Resident Ricardo Ayers said he’s not particularly concerned about this week’s fires. He said he has seen additional patrols this week.
He said his mother-in-law’s car was set on fire a couple of months ago. No one was apprehended in that case.
Ayers said he doesn’t believe the incidents are connected.
“This is a separate individual doing this,” he said.
Arson investigators are asking people to report any suspicious activity at the mobile home park by calling the Riverside County Arson Hotline at 800-633-2836.
All calls are confidential and anonymous, Hagemann said in the news release.

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A Walk in the Park....

I recently noticed that "NO TRESPASSING" signs had been posted in the windows of empty mobile homes throughout Upland Cascade Mobilehome Park.

I decided to take a walk and count how many empty homes are actually in the park at this time.  What I found was that there are no less that 30 empty homes with "NO TRESPASSING" signs posted and in addition to that, there are approximately 17 empty dirt lots. These numbers reflect a 25% vacancy rate in our park which is, in my opinion, the result of the gross mismanagement by our park owners and the trojan horse contracts they employ.


These "NO TRESPASSING" signs also indicate a couple of things that may or may not be obvious to you. One is that since the signs were apparently placed in the empty homes by park management  the 30 empty homes most likely belong to our park owners. I have often pointed out that our park has had a history of an extraordinarily high eviction rate as well as residents walking away from their homes because they could not sell them and simply could not afford their escalating space rents. Consequently, guess who ends up owning the vacant homes???  The second thing is that quite possibly our mobile home park has deteriorated to the point of where there is a problem with vandalism and squatters.  I guess that says a lot about our "sophisticated" park owners.


If you reside in any of the Tatum Kaplan owned mobile home parks I challenge you to go take a walk in the park and see if what is going on there is much different than what I have reported above.  Let me know.

I'm Still Around

I must apologize for my absence over the past several months.  I've had a few health issues that slowed me down for a bit but now I'm back of top of things and will be posting again.  During my time off Iwas  still  able to research and read my mail but posting and answering correspondence had to be put on the back burner.  My return will most likely disappoint Jeff, Tom and MCM but that's just too bad.  As I have said in the past, I want this to be a clearing house for all information regarding the Tatum-Kaplan organization...good or bad...although as of yet, I have found found nothing good to post about them.
If you have any information regarding the Tatum-Kaplan organization that you don't see here, please forward it to me and if appropriate, I will share it with our readers.  Thanks again for your visits.

Are You Ready to Kiss Your Home Goodbye???

I recently found the following two sentences buried deep within a lengthy City of Upland document:


"Land in Upland is becoming too valuable to use as mobile home parks. 

Owners of existing parks are considering selling their land for development."

Apparently if you are a resident in ANY of the mobile home parks in Upland, your days on your current lot may very well be numbered. So much for the protection of the City of Gracious Living's rent control ordinance. It had already failed many of us anyway.


A big "Welcome to the nightmare" for Mountain View Estates, Oasis Mobile Estates, Upland Eldorado Mobile Home Park, Upland Meadows Mobile Estates and Upland View Terrace.