THE PEOPLE,
A161601
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION THREE
Filed 5/18/22
CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION; (San Mateo County Super. Ct. No. 18SF014403B)
An elderly victim signed a purchase agreement conveying her home (Property) to Rex Regum, LLC (Rex Regum), a corporation controlled by Justin Hall. Based on false representations by defendant Tonika Lynette Miller, the victim believed she was instead signing a document to obtain a reverse mortgage for $500,000. Unaware of that transaction, and believing Rex Regum was the lawful owner of the Property, real party in interest Lion Share Investments, LLC (Lion Share), purchased the Property from Rex Regum. Rex Regum thereafter executed a grant deed transferring title to Lion Share.
Miller later pled no contest to procuring and offering a false or forged instrument and to unlawfully taking real property from the victim. (
On appeal, Lion Share argues Miller‘s no contest plea “was not an adjudication of the alleged falsity or forgery” of the deed and was thus an insufficient basis for the trial court‘s voiding the deed under
BACKGROUND
Sara J., an elderly woman, owned the Property in Redwood City and resided there with her husband, who has dementia, and Cynthia S., a tenant. In 2018, San Mateo County informed Sara that she owed property taxes and faced a foreclosure sale. Miller, a real estate salesperson, contacted Sara and offered to secure a reverse mortgage to help save the Property. Sara agreed; she believed a reverse mortgage would allow her to use her equity in the Property to pay the taxes. Miller and her employer, Hall, indicated they would pay Sara‘s tax obligation, and Sara would reimburse them by sending them $150 every month. Cynthia coordinated with Miller on Sara‘s behalf. Sara agreed to pay $25,000 from the proceeds of the transaction to Cynthia as compensation for her assistance.
On July 23, 2018, Miller provided Sara with a document to sign. At the time, Sara believed the document was to secure a $500,000 reverse mortgage. Sara also thought that after she signed the document, Miller would pay the owed property taxes to prevent a foreclosure sale. Miller pressured Sara to sign the document quickly, explaining she needed to pay the overdue property taxes before the county office closed for the day. Sara did not read the document but nonetheless signed it. In fact, the document was a purchase agreement resulting in the sale of the Property to Rex Regum for $500,000.1 Although Sara‘s delinquent taxes were paid, a deed transferring title of the Property from Sara to Rex Regum was recorded the same day. Sara did not learn that she had sold her property until August 2, when an inspector from the San Mateo County District Attorney‘s Office notified her of the sale. Later in August, Lion Share purchased the Property from Rex Regum. A deed reflecting Lion Share‘s title to the Property was recorded on August 27.
Shortly after the criminal complaint was filed against Miller and Hall, Lion Share filed a quiet title action in January 2019 and asserted ownership of the Property. At her deposition, Sara consistently testified she did not intend to sell her house. Rather, she believed Miller gave her the document to obtain a reverse mortgage. She was shocked when the inspector notified her that she sold the Property to Rex Regum. She stated, “I had no idea that I had sold my house.” In response, Rex Regum produced text messages from Cynthia, some conveying Sara‘s purported happiness regarding the availability of possible homes for purchase. In her deposition, however, Sara explained she did not believe she had any choice but to move as she no longer had a home because it had been stolen from her. Cynthia refused to appear for a deposition.
While the quiet title action was pending, but after Miller pled no contest, the People filed a motion to void the deed conveying Sara‘s home to Rex Regum. (
Citing Miller‘s no contest pleas to procuring and offering a false or forged instrument and to grand theft of real property, as well as Sara‘s deposition testimony, the trial court determined the deed was forged. It found Sara relied on Miller‘s false representations and believed she was signing documents for a reverse mortgage, not a grant deed. The court further stated the “instrument is false because the property . . . was stolen from Sara . . . as indicated by defendant‘s conviction” for theft of real property. The court also concluded the matter was more appropriately addressed in the criminal proceeding rather than the quiet title action based on the interests of judicial economy, giving finality to Miller‘s criminal case, providing victim restitution, and potential prejudice to Sara resulting from a lengthy civil proceeding. The court then adjudged the deed void from its inception.
After “a person is convicted of a violation of [
We review questions of statutory interpretation de novo, but otherwise review a judgment for substantial evidence. (Schmidt, supra, 41 Cal.App.5th at p. 1056;
I.
Lion Share contends a
Nor does the
Lion Share insists a
Alternately, Lion Share urges us to limit the use of no contest pleas in
These cases are unlike the circumstances present here. In this case, Miller‘s no contest plea was used as the basis for a motion in the same criminal proceeding, not a separate civil or administrative proceeding as in the other cases. (
Originally,
In sum, the People‘s
II.
Lion Share also contends there is insufficient evidence that the deed conveying the Property to Rex Regum was forged because the trial court relied entirely on Miller‘s no contest plea to support its finding. After reviewing the record for substantial evidence in the light most favorable to the judgment, we reject Lion Share‘s argument. (People v. Avila (2009) 46 Cal.4th 680, 701.)
Forgery involves a defendant, who “by fraud or trickery, causes another to execute a deed of trust or other document where the signer is unaware, by reason of such trickery, that he is executing a document of that nature.” (People v. Parker (1967) 255 Cal.App.2d 664, 672.) Specifically, “[w]here a person who has no intention of selling or encumbering his property is induced by some trick or device to sign a paper having such effect, believing that paper to be a substantially different instrument,” the signed paper is a forgery. (Buck v. Superior Court (1965) 232 Cal.App.2d 153, 162; see also Parker, at pp. 667, 672 [deed of trust forged where victims signed based on representation the document was a contract for aluminum siding].) In People v. Astorga-Lider (2019) 35 Cal.App.5th 646 (Astorga-Lider), for example, the victims believed they were signing a document — an agreement consummating the purchase of real property — that was substantially different from the actual document they signed — a deed of trust securing a loan for $275,000 in hard money that the defendant then controlled. (Id. at pp. 649, 653Id. at p. 653.)
The circumstances here are comparable. Sara consistently testified to her belief, based on Miller‘s representations, that she was signing a reverse mortgage allowing her to retain and reside in her home. Instead, the document Sara signed was a purchase agreement selling the Property to Rex Regum — a substantially different document. (Astorga-Lider, supra, 35 Cal.App.5th at p. 653.) Like the victims in Astorga-Lider, Sara repeatedly noted she lacked any idea she was selling the Property and did not discover
Lion Share disputes this conclusion by citing text messages from Cynthia conveying Sara‘s happiness and her eagerness to find another house. According to Lion Share, these messages demonstrate Sara subsequently ratified the sale despite her earlier intent to retain her home. This argument ignores the standard of review. (People v. Farnam (2002) 28 Cal.4th 107, 143 [“judgment may not be reversed simply because the circumstances might also reasonably be reconciled with a contrary finding“].) The trial court rejected these text messages as speculative and unpersuasive evidence given Miller‘s no contest pleas to procuring and offering a false or forged instrument and Sara‘s deposition testimony. That testimony includes Sara‘s repeated statements that she would never have sold the Property. Rather than ratifying the sale, Sara testified she was resigned to moving because she was told she sold the Property and had no other alternative. (Ibid. [appellate courts presume in support of the judgment the existence of every fact the trier could reasonably deduce from the evidence].)
To the extent Lion Share argues a no contest plea alone cannot constitute substantial evidence for finding a deed forged or false, resolving that issue here is unnecessary. In addition to Miller‘s no contest pleas, the court relied on Sara‘s testimony in which she unequivocally stated her belief that she was signing a reverse mortgage, not a document to sell her home. We further reject Lion Share‘s assertion Sara is bound by the purchase agreement because she signed the document despite failing to read it. Even in the civil context, “one who signs an instrument may not avoid the impact of its terms on the ground that he failed to read the instrument before signing” if “in the absence of fraud.” (Hulsey v. Elsinore Parachute Center (1985) 168 Cal.App.3d 333, 339, italics added.) Here, Sara is a victim of criminal fraud and signed the purchase agreement based on Miller‘s misrepresentations. Thus, Sara‘s signing the purchase agreement does not preclude the outcome here.
Substantial evidence supported the court‘s finding the deed was forged and hence void. (
III.
Lion Share contends the trial court abused its discretion by resolving the validity of the deed under
In evaluating Lion Share‘s request that the trial court defer to the quiet title action, the court found Sara would be prejudiced by a lengthy civil proceeding that restricts her ability to make decisions regarding the Property. The record indicates the Property is Sara‘s only substantial asset, and uncertainty regarding title would restrict her ability to make financial decisions about her living situation and her husband, who has dementia. Far from ignoring Lion Share‘s status as a crime victim and a potential bona fide purchaser, as Lion Share contends, the court noted that resolving the deed‘s validity under
constitute an abuse of discretion. (People v. Carmony (2004) 33 Cal.4th 367, 377.)
IV.
Lion Share contends reliance on Miller‘s no contest plea to declare the deed void and the trial court refusal to defer to the quiet title action deprived it of a full and fair opportunity to adjudicate its title claim to the Property in violation of its due process rights. Leaving aside Lion Share‘s failure to cite any relevant standards for assessing a due process claim, its argument ignores the record.
Lion Share filed multiple briefs; provided substantial exhibits including declarations, deposition testimony from Sara, and text messages from Cynthia; and made oral arguments on two occasions regarding the People‘s
DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed.
Rodríguez, J.
WE CONCUR:
Tucher, P. J.
Fujisaki, J.
A161601
Superior Court of San Mateo County, Elizabeth K. Lee, Judge.
Steyer Lowenthal Boodrookas Alvarez & Smith, Jeffrey H. Lowenthal, Edward Egan Smith, Stacey C. Quan, for Real Party in Interest and Appellant.
Stephen M. Wagstaffe, District Attorney, Kimberly A. Perrotti, Deputy District Attorney, for Plaintiff and Respondent.