Edwards v. Werner
Filed 6/8/06 Edwards v. Werner CA2/2
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION TWO
| JAN EDWARDS, as Administrator, etc., Plaintiff and Respondent, v. JEFF WERNER et al., Defendants and Appellants. | B181352 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BC274487) |
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County.
Elihu M. Berle, Judge. Affirmed.
Law Offices of Lloyd S. Wolf, Lloyd S. Wolf for Defendants and Appellants.
Altshuler & Spiro, Bruce J. Altshuler for Plaintiff and Respondent.
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Defendants Jeff Werner, a licensed mortgage loan broker, and Veronica Lake, Werner's assistant and a California notary, appeal a $385,000 judgment (plus prejudgment interest and punitive damages,
and minus credits for amounts paid by other defendants) in favor of the estate of an investor, plaintiff David Roberts. The judgment followed a nonjury trial on a complaint alleging fraud and related causes of action arising from the misrepresentation of a fourth trust deed as merely a second trust deed.[1]
Contrary to the contentions of Werner and Lake, (1) Jan Edwards, Roberts's niece, who had power of attorney for Roberts, was not a necessary or indispensable party; (2) the escrow company was not solely responsible for what had occurred, as Werner and Lake are also liable for their own fraud and other misconduct; and (3) there is no fatal variance between the pleadings and the judgment. We therefore affirm the judgment.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL SUMMARY
David Roberts, an elderly and relatively wealthy retiree, was a retired hair stylist who held several patents on hair care and hair coloring products. In 2000, Roberts resided in Las Vegas. His primary caretaker was his niece, Jan Edwards, who held a power of attorney for Roberts and assisted him by making recommendations as to real estate investment loans.
Prior to the investment transactions at issue here, Roberts had successfully made several high risk loans through Werner and his company. These loans were referred to as â€
