Facts about Receiverships

A Health & Safety receivership is a dramatic, immediate, comprehensive, and systematic tool that ends the problems with slum housing and problem properties without any costs to the referring agency or government. Receiverships are a dramatic mechanism which communicates to neighbors and surrounding communities that the city/county/agency is taking concrete steps to remedy the problem property they have lived with and will remedy the dangerous conditions created by absentee or recalcitrant owners.

Unlike the traditional concept of financial receivership, a Health & Safety receiver is not appointed to operate a property for a period of time, or to “wind-down” operations. Rather, the receiver is appointed to remedy the health and safety violations on a property. Often this is through hiring a contractor to correct the violations, or it could begin with emptying a property of its residents. The remedies are left to the receiver, which is what makes the remedy so adaptable and applicable to the problems a government is facing.

Authorized pursuant to California Health & Safety Code Sections 17980 et seq., receiverships are used primarily for abandoned and substandard properties where the owner has a history of non-compliance with local enforcement agency orders to abate, or when a property’s conditions pose a serious threat to its residents or the public at large.

Health & Safety Receiverships are implemented, most effectively, under three scenarios:

The Receiver, under the authority and supervision of the California Superior Court, borrows against the property (using the property's equity) and uses those funds to pay for emergency owner/occupant relocation, property rehabilitation, demolition or other work as authorized by the Court in order to bring the property into compliance with local and state regulations.

Benefits of Receiverships

Orders to vacate must come from the Court. This greatly reduces local enforcement agency exposure to potential negative publicity as well as liability that can accompany forced relocation and takeover of private property. The Health & Safety Code does not require the filing of a civil complaint. It authorizes the ex-parte appointment of a receiver on petition of a local enforcement agency. The typical life of the receivership ranges from 2-6 months depending upon the scope of the project.
Enforcement Remedy is a faster and far more efficient method to abate severely substandard properties due to shortened notice requirements as well as ex-parte application.
A Receiver is typically appointed on the day of the application and empowered with the authority to take emergency measures to secure a given property, immediately relocate tenants/owners/residents to safe and temporary housing, and abate other circumstances posing immediate threats to health and safety.

The Prevailing Party (upon successful appointment of a receiver) is awarded attorneys fees and costs, by statute, for the cost of obtaining Receiver's appointment and even, under certain circumstances, for costs of prior enforcement efforts/criminal prosecutions/abatement proceedings/outstanding liens for prior abatements

California Receivership Group was formed to provide a complete, turn-key solution for properties in repeated violation of Health & Safety codes. When we are appointed over a property as Receiver, the team is on-site immediately, beginning the process of fixing the property’s problems. CRG eliminates any dire threats posed to the owners, occupants and community, either by bringing in a construction team immediately or emptying the property if necessary. CRG is dedicated to protecting and preserving assets assigned to its custody and control while maintaining an ever-present sensitivity to the human and social side of the work.

CRG is able to achieve immediate and effective results by deploying a team built specially for problem properties. This team includes attorneys, contractors, accountants, receivership administrators, clean-up crews, property managers, professional organizers, ground operations managers and financiers. Our extended network includes all aspects of property rehabilitation; if we do not have the right person for the job, we will find them and bring them on board. For all our projects we incorporate local community resources and talent as much as possible.

Mark Adams, President and Founder of CRG, is the most experienced Health and Safety Receiver in the State of California. CRG has been appointed by over 18 different Superior Court Judges and 1 United States District Court Judge. We have been Health & Safety receivers in 7 different counties in California and been nominated by 22 cities/counties to handle receiverships.We have vast experience managing the financial, political, social and economic intricacies that accompany this extraordinarily unique enforcement tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Who Can Ask the Superior Court to Appoint a Health & Safety Receiver Over Property?

A. (1)Local Enforcement Agency; (2) Tenant; (3) Tenant Association or Organization (Cal. H&S 17980.7(c)).

Q. What is the Legal Authority to Petition for the Receiver's Appointment on an Ex Parte Basis?

A. Rules 3.1175 through 3.1184 of the California Rules of Court outline ex parte applications. Oftentimes, this is the only option when faced with a serious health and safety issue.

Q. What is the Specific Legal Authority of the Receiver?

A. See H&S 17980.7(c) for exhaustive and comprehensive list of tools/authority available to the Receiver once appointed. Courts also have broad discretion within their equitable receivership powers to define the full scope of powers available to a receiver.

Q. If a city or county’s code enforcement process require a lengthy notice, hearing and appeal, does the Health and Safety Code provisions relating to appointment of a Receiver stand apart from those requirements/process/procedure? Or can we pursue alternate remedies at the same time (criminal prosecution, civil nuisance abatement, administrative citations, for example).

A. The H&S 17980.7 remedy can be brought independently from any other matters, as (g) states: “these remedies shall be in addition to those provided by any other law.”

Q. What are the Rules Relating to Grounds for Issuance of Notice to Repair or Abate: 17980.6? What is the trigger?

A. Any violation of state or municipal code triggers the potential receivership remedy. H&S § 17980.6 and §17980.7 apply to all buildings, and there is no restriction which would limit the applicability to occupied or commercial buildings. A 17980.6 Notice can be issued to abandoned, occupied, residential, commercial buildings. H&S § 17980.6. The conditions present must be “so extensive and of such a nature that the health & safety of residents or the public is substantially endangered.” H&S § 17980.6. That threat can be to the occupants or the public at large.

Q. How Much Time Must the City/County Give to Repair or Abate Pursuant to a 17980.6 Notice?

A. The California Health & Safety Code requires only a “reasonable time” to comply with a violation notice under 17980.6 regardless of what a local ordinance or regulation may otherwise require.

Q. How Much Time is Considered "Reasonable Time?"

A. What constitutes a reasonable amount of time will depend on the facts and circumstances surrounding the individual property. Once the “reasonable time” to repair/abate has expired, the only remaining Notice requirement to owner/recorded interests, prior to filing of the ex parte emergency application/petition, is the [at least] three day notice that the City/County intends to file the petition.

Q. What Happens when a Property Fails to Comply with the 17980.6 Notice and Correct the Violations?

A. The enforcement agency, tenant, or tenant association or organization may seek and the court may order, the appointment of a receiver for the substandard building. §17980.7(c).

CRG FYIs

Commercial & Residential
Hoarding: What Can Local Governments Do?
Foreclosing Bank As Owner
Abandoned
Superpriority Memo
The Receivership Process: It’s Easier Than You Think!

“CRG FYI”s are not meant to provide legal advice and should not be relied on in any legal matter. CRG is not providing legal advice and does not create any of the duties and obligations inherent in the attorney-client relationship with this information. This article is meant to begin a dialogue and to increase awareness of the receivership remedy in the code enforcement and municipal law fields.

Representative Appointments
City of Fullerton City of Whittier City of Costa Mesa City of Rialto City of La Habra City of Los Angeles	County of Los Angeles City of Crescent City City of Alhambra City of Rancho Cucamonga City of Buena Park City of Rolling Hills Estates City of San Fernando	City of Alameda City of Santa Clarita City of Highland City of Norco City of Rancho Palos Verdes City of West Covina

Mark Adams

PRESIDENT

Mark Adams is the most experienced Health and Safety Receiver in California. He is a licensed California attorney and operates throughout the state. He has been appointed by over 18 different Superior Court Judges and 1 United States District Court Judge. Adams, as a Receiver, has overseen the rehabilitation of approximately 50 dilapidated properties including apartment buildings, single family dwellings, single room occupancies and various “pack rat” properties. His largest project to date is a 258-unit mobile home park in the Thermal Valley for which the receivership served to remedy a problem deemed unfixable.

Margie Stewart

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZER

Margie Stewart has been a professional organizer and a member of The National Association of Professional Organizers for over 10 years. She specializes in pack-rat properties, working with hoarders and people with OCD and related psychological problems. At CRG, she is responsible for working with the clean-up crews and residents to ensure that the residents' valuables are secured, while the property can undergo the cleaning necessary.

Bethany Dotson

Receivership Administration/Office Manager

Bethany Dotson oversees all facets of receivership administration including property management, lender coordination, tenant/homeowner liaison, tracking receivership budgets, and junior bookkeeping functions.

Andrew Adams

General Counsel

Andrew Adams has worked for California Receivership Group off and on for nearly a decade. Currently, he handles litigation for CRG and oversees many of the construction projects that CRG undertakes. He is a 2010 graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law and a member of the California Bar. He holds a B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Richardson Griswold

Director, San Diego Division

Mr. Griswold is a member of the California State Bar and licensed to practice law in all California state courts, as well as the United States District Courts in the Southern District and Central District of California. Mr. Griswold earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis and his law degree, magna cum laude, from California Western School of Law in San Diego. Mr. Griswold is also a licensed California Real Estate Broker.

Prior to founding Griswold Law, Mr. Griswold sharpened his legal skills at several Southern California law firms focusing on real estate law, employment law and business litigation, as well as in the legal departments of the San Diego Padres and The Upper Deck Company. He also previously served as Vice President of a commercial and residential property management company, at the time ranked 15th largest in the state of California.

Catherine Hall-Fein

Paralegal

Catherine Hall-Fein is the newest team member to join CRG. She joins CRG as a Paralegal with more than six years of legal experience. She handles all court related administrative duties such as court filings and court correspondence. She has a B.A. from the University of California, Riverside and a J.D. from the University of West Los Angeles, San Fernando Campus. She loves being a wife and mother and is an avid hockey fan - Go Kings!

California Receivership Group
150 Barrington Ave, Ste. 100
Los Angeles, CA 90049

Phone: (310) 471-8181
Fax: (310) 471-8180
Email: General Inquiry
Mark Adams