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Early Sullivan Prevails in Bench Trial for Real Estate Client Patron Investments, LLC
Category: News, Results | Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Prevails in Bench Trial for Real Estate Client Patron Investments, LLC
Scott Gizer and Brian Ritter prevailed on behalf of Early Sullivan client, Patron Investments, LLC in a quiet title and cancellation of instruments action following a bench trial in San Bernardino County.
Patron Investments, LLC acquired title to a property in Rancho Cucamonga from HSBC after it foreclosed on its deed of trust. Plaintiffs Thomas and Liu Quan Reece alleged that HSBC’s foreclosure was wrongful and should be set aside for multiple reasons, including that HSBC was not the proper beneficiary of the deed of trust, enforcement of the underlying debt was time barred and that HSBC could not foreclose on Liu Quan Reece’s 50% interest in the property based on California community property laws and because Liu Quan Reece did not sign HSBC’s deed of trust.
If Plaintiffs were to succeed on any of their theories, it would have invalidated the sale to Patron Investments, LLC. Mr. Gizer and Mr. Ritter put on evidence to establish that HSBC was the proper beneficiary of the deed of trust, the underlying debt was still enforceable and that Liu Quan Reece’s conveyance of her interest in the property to Thomas Reece was a valid transfer as between them and HSBC’s predecessor-in-interest Countrywide.
After a three-day bench trial, the trial court found in favor of Patron Investments, LLC quieting title in its name as the owner of the subject property free and clear of any claims by the Plaintiffs. The case is entitled Thomas F. Reece; Liu Jean Quan Reece v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, et. al., San Bernardino County Case No. CIVSB2106194.
The Daily Journal Covers Early Sullivan’s Representation of Pacific Palisades Homeowners in Ongoing Lawsuit Against State Farm
Category: News, Press, Results | Wednesday, February 25th, 2026 | Comments Off on The Daily Journal Covers Early Sullivan’s Representation of Pacific Palisades Homeowners in Ongoing Lawsuit Against State Farm
The Daily Journal recently covered a lawsuit filed on behalf of Pacific Palisades homeowners, represented by Devin McRae and Peter Scott of Early Sullivan, against State Farm after last year’s devastating Palisades and Eaton wildfires. The suit alleges that the insurance company deliberately underestimated reconstruction costs and did not honor a full-coverage policy.
The piece notes that, in a rare result against an insurance company, Devin and Peter won a writ of attachment against State Farm on behalf of their clients, Robert and Stacy Berman, in November. Peter explains to the Daily Journal that after losing their home entirely, the family was nowhere close to receiving compensation for the policy limits from State Farm prior to filing.
“The entire home was gone when they came back the next day, and State Farm wouldn’t even pay the policy limits,” Peter tells the Daily Journal. “They had to fight for seven months to even get them close to policy limits, and they were still hundreds of thousands of dollars away from policy limits before they had to file suit.”
Devin echoes Peter’s sentiment, adding that he believes State Farm knowingly and deliberately misrepresented the cost of reconstruction.
“The claim is that from the top of the company, it was well aware that its predictive modeling was undervaluing the claims or the cost of rebuilding, that the company knew that all of these folks that were insureds of it could be subject to not having enough insurance in the event of a catastrophe like the Palisades fire, and therefore there’s responsibility on their part for the under insurance,” Devin concludes.
In a separate article, the Daily Journal later covered a February 23 hearing, in which U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi oversaw oral arguments from Peter on behalf of the plaintiffs in the case. The article states that Peter told Judge Scarsi that claims against State Farm for mail and wire fraud do not require allegations of fraudulent misrepresentation.
“They just have to be used incident to the fraudulent scheme, which I think is alleged sufficiently here,” Peter stated at the hearing.
The article notes that Judge Scarsi stated that he will issue a ruling after reconsidering the issues presented by both parties at Monday’s hearing.
To learn more about the suit and read the rest of Devin and Peter’s comments, read the full articles in the Daily Journal below (subscription required).
Palisades homeowners sue State Farm over alleged underinsurance
Judge weighs RICO claims against State Farm in Palisades fire case
Court Grants Request For Attorneys’ Fees After Sun West Mortgage’s Success At Trial
Category: News, Results | Monday, February 2nd, 2026 | Comments Off on Court Grants Request For Attorneys’ Fees After Sun West Mortgage’s Success At Trial
In a decisive post-judgment ruling issued on September 29, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California awarded Sun West Mortgage Company more than $562,000 in attorneys’ fees following its successful resolution of litigation against First National Bank of Pennsylvania. The Court concluded that Sun West was the prevailing party under the parties’ settlement agreement, having achieved its core litigation objectives and secured meaningful relief after extensive motion practice and trial proceedings. The Court found that Sun West’s lawyers reasonably and efficiently prosecuted a complex commercial dispute involving multiple loan transactions, affirmative defenses, and extensive trial preparation, emphasizing that Sun West prevailed on the most significant issues in the case and rejected arguments that the lawyers’ fee request was excessive or duplicative.
Click Download PDF to see the Order.
Early Sullivan Obtains Summary Judgment for First American on $14.7 Million Bad Faith Claim
Category: News, Results | Thursday, January 22nd, 2026 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Obtains Summary Judgment for First American on $14.7 Million Bad Faith Claim
Scott E. Gizer, Christopher I. Ritter and Jessica Detering of Early Sullivan prevailed on a motion for summary judgment on behalf of First American Title Insurance Company in a bad faith action in U.S. District Court in Washington State. The Insured was a developer that became embroiled in litigation with an adjacent property owner who claimed the right to maintain utility lines under the Insured’s property based on an implied easement theory. After settling that dispute, the Insured tendered a claim to First American for indemnification of the attorney’s fees and costs the Insured incurred as well as other losses.
First American denied coverage on various grounds resulting in the Insured filing a lawsuit against First American for breach of contract and bad faith, seeking $14.7 million in compensatory damages. On a matter of first impression in the State of Washington, Early Sullivan filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that the claim for an implied easement was properly denied because it was excluded from coverage under Exclusion 3(d), which excludes matters that are created or attach after the Date of Policy.
Early Sullivan argued that implied easements are not created and do not attach to property until a Court renders a judgment establishing the implied easement. Further, because the adjacent property owner had not established its implied easement through a Court judgment as of the Date of Policy, Exclusion 3(d) applied. The District Court agreed with Early Sullivan’s argument and entered summary judgment in First American’s favor while also denying the Insured’s cross-motion for summary judgment seeking an order that the claim was a covered matter. The case information is Bel-Red Partners, LLC v. First American Title Insurance Company, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington (Seattle), Case No. 2:24-cv-01563-KKE.
Early Sullivan Prevails in Summary Judgment Victory on Behalf of Fidelity
Category: News, Results | Friday, May 31st, 2024 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Prevails in Summary Judgment Victory on Behalf of Fidelity
An Early Sullivan team led by Diane Myint Luczon and Brett G. Moore recently emerged victorious after they filed a motion for a summary judgment, which was granted in full by the Court, in a case representing an insured home buyer.
Fidelity retained Early Sullivan to represent an insured buyer who purchased three homes. The seller’s daughter handled the sale for her mother, claiming she had a Power of Attorney, allowing her to sell the homes on her mother’s behalf. After the client purchased the homes, the seller’s son sued the buyer, claiming that the sister’s Power of Attorney was a fraud. The son alleged claims against Early Sullivan’s client of financial elder abuse, intentional misrepresentation, civil conspiracy, accounting, intentional infliction of emotional distress, quiet title, cancellation of instruments, declaratory relief, and related claims.
Following discovery, Diane and Brett filed the successful motion for summary judgment, allowing their innocent client to keep the homes he bought. The Court found that the client’s reliance on the daughter’s Power of Attorney was reasonable and in good faith, and therefore the client was immune from the claims brought against him.
9th Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Ruling Further Cementing Early Sullivan’s Success Against HOA Title Claims
Category: News, Results | Friday, April 5th, 2024 | Comments Off on 9th Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Ruling Further Cementing Early Sullivan’s Success Against HOA Title Claims
In another historic ruling, the 9th Circuit affirmed a summary judgment ruling obtained by Early Sullivan in favor of its client Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company agreeing that the Plaintiff Wells Fargo Bank. N.A. could not assert any valid claims against its title insurer Commonwealth for the denial of a claim resulting from a foreclosure on a HOA superpriority lien. This (attached) memorandum opinion follows the landmark ruling issued by the Nevada Supreme Court in October 2023 finding that title insurers had no liability for these HOA superpriority lien claims under the basic insuring provisions of the title policy and the ALTA 5/CLTA 115.2 and ALTA 9/CLTA 100 endorsements. Wells Fargo had tried to find an exception to the rule laid down by the Nevada Supreme Court with respect to the ALTA 9/CLTA 100 arguing that the language in these particular CC&Rs had different language entitling them to coverage. Wells Fargo also argued that it had coverage under the CLTA 100.13 endorsement, which was not addressed by the Nevada Supreme Court. The 9th Circuit disagreed with both arguments holding that the language of the CC&Rs in this particular case did not change the outcome and that the CLTA 100.13 did not provide coverage because it only covered liens created by the CC&Rs, not by statute, and the superpriority lien was a purely statutory lien. With this most recent victory, the remaining HOA claims still being maintained by the insured lenders, should now be dismissed, ending this more than one hundred million dollar saga, with the scores of plaintiffs being paid little to nothing from the Firm’s title insurer clients.
Early Sullivan Obtains Defense Verdict On $10 Million Bad Faith Claim
Category: News, Results | Wednesday, December 13th, 2023 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Obtains Defense Verdict On $10 Million Bad Faith Claim
An Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae trial team, comprised of Scott Gizer and Rebecca Claudat obtained a defense verdict on behalf of their client First American Title Insurance Company following a two-week jury trial in Everett, Washington. Early Sullivan was brought in to serve as lead trial counsel by First American just two months prior to trial The insured Saratoga 18, LLC, owned and controlled by private equity firm, the Resmark Companies, had asserted claims against First American for breach of their title insurance policy, violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, and Washington’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act. The insured had submitted two claims to First American regarding a piece of vacant property it had acquired in Mulkiteo, Washington for condo development. The Insured came to learn that the property was not properly subdivided and there was an issue as to whether the selling entity had the right to sell. First American accepted the subdivision claim and elected to cure that issue, and denied the second claim as premature as no third party had challenged the conveyance. The insured ultimately sued First American alleging that First American had failed to diligently proceed with curative efforts for the subdivision and improperly denied the other claim. The insured claimed it was entitled to $3 million for the value of the property plus $6 million in treble damages, and over a $1 million in attorney’s fees and costs. First American contended that the insured had failed to cooperative with the curative efforts and that the denial of the other claim was not a true denial, but was First American’s invocation of an industry practice referred to as “watchful waiting”, whereby First American agrees to reconsider the claim if it ever becomes an actual adverse issue. The jury agreed with First American that the claim was handled properly in all respects and denied all relief requested by the insured.
Early Sullivan Prevails Before Nevada Supreme Court Likely Ending Massive HOA Litigation
Category: News, Results | Friday, October 13th, 2023 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Prevails Before Nevada Supreme Court Likely Ending Massive HOA Litigation
An Early Sullivan appellate team with Scott E. Gizer secured a monumental victory on behalf of the title insurance industry when the Nevada Supreme Court agreed with them that title insurers did not agree to insure lenders against the enormous losses they suffered when numerous Homeowners’ Associations foreclosed on their assessment liens, wiping out deeds of trust securing hundreds of millions of dollars.
In Nevada, HOAs are granted a super priority lien for delinquent assessments that takes priority over earlier recorded deeds of trust under NRS 116.3116. When the Nevada Supreme Court confirmed in the landmark 2014 SFR decision that these HOA foreclosures indeed wiped out a lender’s first position deed of trust, the lenders turned around and tendered thousands of claims to their title insurers, claiming coverage under two particular endorsements attached to their title policies (the ALTA 5/CLTA 115 and the ALTA 9/CLTA 100). The title insurers largely denied these claims, explaining that these endorsements did not provide coverage for a variety of reasons, resulting in over 100 lawsuits being filed by the lenders in the State of Nevada.
Early Sullivan was retained by the Fidelity National Title Group brand of companies, Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, and North American Title Insurance Company to defend against more than 100 lawsuits seeking total damages in excess of $100,000,000.00. In the case of Deutsche Bank v. Fidelity National Title Insurance Company, Early Sullivan successfully brought a motion to dismiss before Judge Adriana Escobar, who found that under the plain meaning of these endorsements, there was no coverage for Deutsche Bank’s claimed losses from the HOA’s foreclosure on its super-priority lien. Deutsche Bank appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court, which decided to hear the matter En Banc in the first instance, given the known gravity of the case and its effect on over 100 other cases.
In a 6-0 published decision, the Nevada Supreme Court, En Banc, agreed with Early Sullivan’s arguments and interpretations of the various statutes and endorsements at issue, and affirmed that the endorsements at issue did not provide coverage for Deutsche Bank’s losses. This decision should result in the dismissal of all other cases regarding this subject matter and eliminate enormous potential losses to Early Sullivan’s clients. Needless to say, the title insurance industry is thrilled with the results obtained by Early Sullivan.
Early Sullivan Prevails on Behalf of Lenders in Quite Title/Fraud Claim
Category: News, Results | Monday, July 17th, 2023 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Prevails on Behalf of Lenders in Quite Title/Fraud Claim
A trial team of Scott Gizer and Lisa Zepeda prevailed on behalf of its lender clients the Morris Boren Living Trust and Creative Investments, Inc. in an action where Christopher Jordan, the heir to a triplex property in Los Angeles, sought to invalidate the deeds of trust of Early Sullivan’s clients that totaled approximately $1.25 million. The loans at issue were taken out in 2015 by an individual named Angela Fawn Wallace who represented herself to be the trustee of Mr. Jordan’s grandmother’s trust after the grandmother passed and had prepared the trust documents. Ms. Wallace was concurrently being prosecuted on various criminal charges for taking advantage of her clients. Mr. Jordan did not learn of his rights under the trust until the criminal action against Ms. Wallace was filed in 2019. After a two-day bench trial, the trial court ruled in favor Early Sullivan’s clients finding that Ms. Wallace was the proper trustee or, alternatively, the grandmother was negligent for entrusting Ms. Wallace and failing to inform her grandson of his rights under the trust prior to her death such that Ms. Wallace was able to act as the trustee for years without challenge.
Early Sullivan Prevails At Bench Trial Recovering Client’s Stolen Funds
Category: News, Results | Wednesday, April 19th, 2023 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Prevails At Bench Trial Recovering Client’s Stolen Funds
Early Sullivan Senior Associate Brett Moore successfully obtained a judgment in favor of client Plaintiff Cleredene Sheriff in a breach of contract and conversion matter against Defendant Pamela Azmi-Andrew. Ms. Sheriff retained Early Sullivan for the limited purpose of representing her in a bench trial to recover funds stolen by her late-daughter’s roommate.
In 2017, Colleen Mayne, Ms. Sheriff’s daughter and only child was suffering from breast cancer and had a seizure that ultimately left her in a coma. In the weeks and months following Ms. Mayne’s seizure, Defendant Azmi-Andrew volunteered to help Colleen manage her expenses. Ms. Mayne gave Ms. Azmi-Andrew her credit cards, owned jointly between Ms. Sheriff and her daughter, for that purpose. Defendant ended up using the credit cards to obtain cash advances for herself and to pay for flights, car rentals (including a Lamborghini), and other items. These charges were made without permission from Ms. Sheriff or Ms. Mayne. When Ms. Azmi-Andrew was confronted about the charges, over text messages, she agreed to repay them.
At trial, Defendant contended that the charges were gifts and that Ms. Mayne agreed to loan a large sum of money to Defendant, which she intended to repay. She claimed that she never had possession of Ms. Mayne’s credit cards. She further denied having entered into an agreement to repay the amounts she stole. Notwithstanding Defendant’s defenses and stories explaining the charges made on the cards, on cross-examination by Mr. Moore, her defenses and stories completely unraveled. Ultimately, the Judge stated that he found Defendant’s credibility “wholly lacking” and rendered a verdict in favor of our client. Ms. Sheriff will get nearly everything that was stolen from her, plus interest.