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Crisp & Cole hearings start
| Monday, Jul 28 2008 6:29 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Jul 28 2008 6:33 PM
The hearing of state accusations against former Bakersfield real estate firm Crisp, Cole & Associates got off to a quiet start Monday in the basement of the Masonic Temple downtown.
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Carl Cole waits for the start of his hearing on July 28.
David Crisp waits for the start of his hearing on July 28.
Carl Cole, 61, the company’s one-time managing broker, said after the close of Monday’s session he was fighting to keep his real estate broker’s license because he has done a good job.
The company closed some 2,000 sites in four years, Cole said, and no one involved in those transactions has complained.
“I don’t deserve to lose my license over this,” Cole said.
Regulators say the company lied to lenders on more than $12 million worth of loans. As the designated broker, Cole was responsible for the activities of the company and its staff at all times, the complaint says.
Cole’s attorney, Glenn Kottcamp of Fresno, said his client had little to do with the transactions in the California Department of Real Estate’s 25-page complaint, filed last September.
In 2005, Kottcamp said, when most of the transactions took place, Cole’s attention was consumed by plans to erect giant towers at Cal State Bakersfield. The towers project later collapsed from lack of funding.
“He didn’t know” what Crisp & Cole employees were up to at the time, Kottcamp said.
David Crisp, 28, a licensed sales agent, served as his own counsel. He declined to comment following the hearing.
DETAILS
The lawyer for the state real estate department, Michael B. Rich, spent much of Monday calling witnesses from title and loan companies.
Most questions concerned who had signed what documents and how much in commissions were paid to Crisp & Cole Real Estate and its mortgage brokerage arm, Tower Lending.
Rich said after the hearing he was “getting business into the record” in order to “establish the existence” of certain transactions.
A tally of total commissions paid to Crisp & Cole and Tower Lending would be included in closing statements, Rich said.
Joe Carrillo, the department’s senior deputy commissioner, also sat at the state’s table.
While the hearing functioned somewhat like a civil trial, only a judge heard evidence.
That meant lawyers had not prepared exhibits or speeches for the benefit of a jury, making the document-heavy proceedings difficult to follow.
Members of the public could not see the loan documents, property transfers and escrow paperwork that lawyers, witnesses and the judge referred to.
Nevertheless, moments of drama emerged on occasion.
Cole’s attorney implied Crisp had forged Cole’s signature on one set of documents. The judge ended the line of questioning when the state’s attorney objected.
Crisp was mostly quiet, but became bolder in cross-examining witnesses toward the end of the session.
In one instance, he attempted to question underwriting standards of Fremont Investment & Loan, but was cut off by an objection.
The judge seemed to offer good-natured advice about the need to establish a line of questioning before Crisp could ask such questions of the Fremont witness, Laura Calmes.
Former Crisp & Cole employee Robinson Nguyen did not appear Monday. He will lose his license by default when the proceedings end, said Rich, the state attorney.
Two other employees named in the complaint made deals prior to the hearing.
Administrative Law Judge Humberto Flores is hearing the case, which is being processed through the Los Angeles division of the state Office of Administrative Hearings.
The hearing resumes at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the basement of the Masonic Temple at 1920 18th St. The quasi-trial could last as long as three weeks. At stake are Cole’s and Crisp’s licenses.
Proceedings are open to the public.