Kaufman v. Tepper
Filed 6/6/06 Kaufman v. Tepper CA2/3
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.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 THREE
| MICHAEL KAUFMAN et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. DANNY TEPPER et al., Defendants and Appellants. | B183339 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. LC069245) |
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Michael B. Harwin, Judge. Reversed.
Krane & Smith, Marc Smith and Sam Krane for Defendants and Appellants.
Roger A.S. Manlin for Plaintiffs and Respondents.
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Danny Tepper and Miriam Tepper appeal a summary judgment in favor of Michael Kaufman and Danny Simon in an unlawful detainer action. The judgment awards Kaufman and Simon possession of the Teppers' residence, damages, and attorney fees. The Teppers contend they allowed Kaufman to foreclose on their residence to facilitate a $1 million refinancing loan and provide security for an interim loan, they later executed a written lease agreement with Kaufman as landlord and the Teppers as tenants only to support an anticipated refinancing in Kaufman's name, and the lease was a sham and therefore cannot provide the basis for an unlawful detainer. We conclude that a triable issue of material fact as to whether the lease was a sham precludes summary judgment, and therefore reverse the judgment.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
1. Factual Background
The Teppers and their four children resided at 4256 Tarzana Estates Drive in Tarzana, California beginning in 1995. Yaniv Tepper, whose relation to the Teppers does not appear clearly in the record, executed a $32,000 promissory note in favor of Krane & Smith in June 2000, secured by a deed of trust on the property.[1] Krane & Smith assigned the note and deed of trust to Avi Penso in March 2001, who assigned the note and deed of trust to Kaufman in February 2002 when the note was in default. Simon and the Teppers had some dealings in February 2002, discussed further post. Kaufman completed a nonjudicial foreclosure and acquired the property by trustee's deed in July 2002.
Kaufman filed a complaint for unlawful detainer against â€
