Victory for Private Lenders in Elder Abuse Lawsuit

Defending a complex lawsuit for financial elder abuse, wrongful foreclosure and quiet title, a group of California private lenders prevailed this week on all counts after a two (2) week jury in Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles, California. Timothy Silverman of Scheer Law Group and Terry Kent of Levato Law represented the lender defendants while Sil Vossler of Vossler Law represented the plaintiffs.The lender defendants’ expert was Dennis Doss of Doss Law.The trial which was granted preference under CCP §36 was heard by Judge Randolph Hammock in Department 49.

The plaintiffs included an elderly 79 year old woman who spoke only Farsi language, and her two sons as trustees of the family irrevocable trust.Through a licensed broker acting as their agent, the plaintiffs applied for a business purpose private loan representing to the lenders that their single family residence was an investment property.Plaintiffs provided a written rental agreement and made numerous representations to lenders on the loan application regarding income, employment, debts, and where they resided which ultimately proved to be materially false and misleading.At the loan signing with a licensed notary, the elderly woman executed the usual business purpose loan documents, including a certificate of non-owner occupied property, certificate of business purpose and business use of loan proceeds, as well as a language capacity certification, all of which also proved to be false at trial.The entire loan application process was handled by the elderly woman’s adult son who was her power of attorney and primary caregiver.The $1.4 million loan closed only days before a prior lender’s scheduled foreclosure sale.

After loan maturity a year later, the plaintiffs failed to payoff the loan.It was shown that the plaintiffs did not attempt to refinance or even try to sell the property to preserve the equity which existed at that time.Plaintiffs made no attempt to mitigate their loss.Ultimately, the plaintiffs were evicted from the property.The lender defendants were the vested owners of the property at the time of trial.

Plaintiffs brought suit against the private lenders alleging that the loan was a disguised business purpose loan which was also not properly brokered by its licensed agent.Plaintiffs sought to void the loan, place title to the house back in their name, and obtain an award of millions of dollars of economic, non-economic, punitive and exemplary damages.Plaintiffs’ last pretrial demand to the lender defendants was $8.5 million.

After plaintiffs rested their case in chief, the lender defendants brought a motion for nonsuit as to all causes of action.The judge granted defendants’ nonsuit motion as to the wrongful foreclosure and quiet title causes of action, as well as eliminating any punitive damages as well as 2X or 3X damages under Probate Code §859, due to lack of any evidence of willful, malicious or egregious conduct by the lender defendants.

After the favorable nonsuit ruling, the lender defendants made the unexpected strategic decision to rest their case in chief without offering any further evidence whatsoever, based upon the strength of the evidence elicited by lenders’ counsel during plaintiffs’ case in chief.This abrupt decision prevented plaintiffs from offering any rebuttal evidence to rehabilitate or bolster their position after suffering the adverse nonsuit rulings.

After lengthy closing arguments, on July 14, 2025, after a short 90 minute deliberation, the jury conclusively found unanimously 12-0 in favor of the lender defendants on the remaining financial elder abuse cause of action.Afterwards, the jurors stated that the elder’s son was not credible or believable, and “orchestrated” the loan himself to appear to be a business purpose private money loan due to the family’s inability to qualify for a conventional loan.

We are experienced and successful trial attorneys specializing in the full representation of lenders, investors and brokers throughout the entire State of California.If we can answer any questions or assist you in any way, please feel free to reach out to us and we will schedule a call!