An Appellate Court Reverses an $820,000 judgment

December 18, 2008

By Rod Clifford

The homeowner association collection and home foreclosure law firm of Peters and Freedman lost another big one on December 1, 2008. An Appeal Court in Santa Ana, California, reversed a trial court judgment against two homeowners for $820,000. As Peters and Freedman had admitted in court documents that they were doing it on a contingency for their homeowner association client Palacio del Mar, the law firm bears the full brunt of the loss.

This decision comes on the heels of another one in September in Riverside county, where a jury awarded $2 million to a homeowner in a suit against his homeowner association. Peters and Freedman represented the homeowner association. The Peters and Freedman lawyer in each case was Michael Kim.

Several years ago, Peters and Freedman was again on the losing end of a lawsuit, when the homeowner association which it represented lost a parking ticket case. That cost the association $140,000.

Peters and Freedman claim to represent more than 700 homeowner associations in Southern California. Reports suggest that they do not have a stellar reputation. Its lead partner, David Peters, was convicted of illegally hooking up his sewer pipe to a county facility, and was fined $96,000. A Federal judge in New York, ordered Peters and his fellow attorneys at Peters and Freedman, not to appear unrepresented in his court room, because they could not be trusted to tell the truth. See Case No: 95-10486 - AP 96-91030-George Harder v David Peters, Carlos Sosa, Desert Breezes Homeowners Association

As homeowner associations are required to hire a lawyer if they are involved in legal matters, it is important that homeowners publish their experiences with lawyers on AHRC, so that other homeowners can make the most informed selection of their legal representative.