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Aerial photos aid county planners’ enforcementBy DANIEL BLACKBURN
“They” are, indeed, watching.
Cameras are peeking through the clouds above San Luis Obispo County, and some residents are finding them not only invasive, but expensive.
37 Comments added to this post More state allegations heaped on EFI The State Department of Real Estate (DRE) has filed accusations against hard money lender Estate Financial (EFI) of Paso Robles for eight causes of action that include “misrepresentations and false promises made to investors and acting fraudulently and dishonestly in making under-secured loans.”
The accusations were detailed Friday on the state agency’s Web site.
61 Comments added to this post Bank’s own appraisal questions Gearhart loanBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
A million-dollar loan from Heritage Oaks Bank to North County developer Kelly Gearhart earlier this year was based on “erroneous” and questionable claims, according to the bank’s own appraisal.
That appraisal was not received by bank officials until nearly two months after the loan proceeds had been paid to Gearhart.
46 Comments added to this post Update: EFI's bankruptcy expectationsBy KAREN VELIE
Estate Financial Inc. (EFI) will remain in bankruptcy for at least the next few months and at the same time independent evaluator Hanno Powell will continue his audit, the Fresno attorney said earlier this week.
A “complete evaluation” of EFI’s books was ordered during a June 16 San Luis Obispo Superior Court hearing. During that hearing, a group of investors requested the court appoint a receiver to oversee the company’s $170 million mortgage fund. A week later, the Department of Corporations, on behalf of the people of California, joined the plaintiffs in their request.
102 Comments added to this post EFI forced into Chapter 11By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
Creditors forced hard money lender Estate Financial Inc. (EFI) into Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings Wednesday in Santa Barbara’s Central District of California United States Bankruptcy Court.
Five petitioners listed more than $6.9 million in debt owed by EFI as the catalyst for their action. The petitioning group includes builders who claim EFI failed to follow through on agreements to fund projects. They further contend the lender did not defend against a lawsuit as agreed.
169 Comments added to this post RIP: The Rogue VoiceBy DANIEL BLACKBURN
A literary citadel in this county has tumbled.
Editor Stacey Warde and Publisher Dell Franklin announced Monday that The Rogue Voice, a San Luis Obispo County journal of literature, eclectic writing, and grand intent, will publish its final issue in July.
39 Comments added to this post EFI evaluator seeking quality investor informationBy DANIEL BLACKBURN and KAREN VELIE
A Fresno attorney appointed earlier this month to widen the examination of troubled lender Estate Financial Inc. (EFI) is enlisting the help of UncoveredSLO.com’s readers.
Independent evaluator Hanno Powell, an attorney with the firm of Powell and Pool, posted two messages June 21 on this Web site, seeking help from investors with specific knowledge of questionable activities by EFI personnel.
43 Comments added to this post Federal attention aims at lending fraud A federal investigative task force looking into mortgage fraud and related offenses in a seven-county region including San Luis Obispo County will utilize at least 40 FBI agents and investigators from nine other U.S. agencies.
Dubbed SCAM (for Southern California Mortgage), the program was recently initiated, though the probe has been underway for months. San Luis Obispo is one of the seven Southern California counties included in the task force’s range. More than 100 separate investigations are currently being conducted in the region, according to FBI officials.
77 Comments added to this post Ill man tossed under wheels of county justiceBy KAREN VELIE
Les Harvey’s nightmare encounter with “the system” started with a hamburger.
Outside a McDonald’s in Arroyo Grande, Harvey, 64 and terminally ill, sat in his parked van and started to eat his dinner, the burger he had just purchased from the fast-food eatery. For that, he was about to be forcefully arrested, stripped of his earthly belongings, and sentenced to a year in Atascadero State Hospital, an institution for the criminally insane.
40 Comments added to this post COMMENTARY: Try not to irritate Lon AllanBy DANIEL BLACKBURN
I have a recurring dream in which the local media crowd works in concert to slay the dragons of government corruption and to cultivate an environment of informed citizens. And then I open my eyes, and my Tribune, and realize what a far-away fantasy that really is.
It is a closely-held belief of mine that newspapers assume a public trust when they publish, and that applies to UncoveredSLO.com. That’s why Trib columnist Lon Allan’s latest love letter to his Atascadero political cronies in today’s issue is oddly disconcerting.
96 Comments added to this post Estate Financial evaluator appointedSan Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Barry T. LaBarbera Monday initiated a complete evaluation of the books of Estate Financial Inc. (EFI) mortgage fund.
LaBarbera appointed Hanno Powell -- an attorney from Fresno experienced in receiverships -- to look into EFI’s records unencumbered for 30 days. 182 Comments added to this post Paso merchants lost big on Memorial WeekendBy DANIEL BLACKBURN
Angry Paso Robles downtown merchants are reacting to what many are calling a Memorial Weekend financial disaster triggered by city officials responsible for the sudden departure of one of the nation’s largest car shows.
Local business owners are reporting revenue losses of as much as 75 percent for what had been a weekend revenue bonanza.
20 Comments added to this post Just the facts, ma'amBy THE EDITORS A Cal Poly official took to the airways Monday to dispute portions of an UncoveredSLO.com article posted last week. 39 Comments added to this post UncoveredSLO.com is your watchdog Do you enjoy reading UncoveredSLO.com’s in-depth reporting? Do you like the media watchdog function we provide and reader commentaries that follow? Now is your chance to help us continue. Support us today.
We thank the many people who have contributed to UncoveredSLO.com, either by advertising, writing a check, or by hitting our PayPal button (see yellow button at top right of this page for info on the proceeding options). And we thank those who soon will contribute. There is strength in numbers. We are in this to stay, with your help. – The Editors.
66 Comments added to this post State regulators cancel EFI sales permitsBy KAREN VELIE
Estate Financial Corp. (EFI) of Paso Robles can no longer solicit nor accept investor money because the troubled lender’s state permit to do so has been revoked.
Specifically, regulators from the California Department of Corporations (DOC) have stopped the firm from selling mortgage fund securities and part interest in real estate investments. The revocation follows on the heels of an earlier suspension.
208 Comments added to this post Cal Poly College of Engineering budget bleedsBy KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN
Red ink sullies Cal Poly’s College of Engineering and the internationally respected educational institution now operates at a deficit for the first time in decades, according to a slide prepared, presented, and distributed by the College of Engineering during the fall conference.
Former and current associates on both coasts point blame at the controversial three-year reign of college dean Mohammad Noori, the highest paid dean, adding salary and perks, in the California State University system.
84 Comments added to this post Mussel inspection method lacking?By KAREN VELIE
A tiny, invasive bivalve and a statewide drought of increasing severity are on a collision course in San Luis Obispo County.
Hoping to prevent an infestation of the Quagga mussel into local waters, the county Parks and Recreation Department has launched a counterattack that some observers suspect may be counterproductive. Those efforts also may be wasting water and financial resources.
12 Comments added to this post COMMENTARY: Keeping you confidentialBy THE EDITORS
Internet journalism and Web sites like this wade through uncharted legal and ethical waters.
One of the first difficult issues to surface related to the content not of our news articles, but to the readers’ comments that the news generated. Sometimes edgy, sometimes salty, sometimes border-line idiotic, these comments are nevertheless informative, interesting, fun. We delete only under the most extreme circumstances.
And then a second, more important, concern raised its head: Is the identity of authors who post comments fair game for anyone who might make such a demand?
38 Comments added to this post Vendor lawyer Hall helps county official buy houseBy DANIEL BLACKBURN and KAREN VELIE
A top county official’s Arroyo Grande home was jointly purchased by her and the family trusts of local lawyer Clay Hall, whose firm receives hundreds of thousands of dollars annually as the vendor responsible for the majority of San Luis Obispo County’s outside legal work.
Gail Wilcox, assistant county administrator, owns one-half undivided interest in the house on Blackberry Avenue, according to county property documents. She took a $417,000 mortgage in April 2007 to purchase her fifty percent share of the residence. Clay Hall, his wife Kristy A. Hall, and several of their family trusts own the other half. The total purchase price, according to records, was $580,000.
Wilcox acknowledged the arrangement Monday.
229 Comments added to this post Cal Poly-Saudi deal: No women, no problem A controversial proposal to partner Cal Poly’s engineering department with a fledgling university in Saudi Arabia has spurred a steam of leaked e-mails between Cal Poly officials, who express a desire to push ahead with the pact despite possible gender restrictions.
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