Segerstroms: Disputed apartments are not ours

Lolita Harper

Officials for Segerstrom Properties say they were unfairly named

in a lawsuit, filed last week and alleging severe illnesses from

toxic mold at the Mesa Verde Villas apartments, citing documents that

show the dynasty family owns the land but not the buildings in

question.

“We don’t have anything to do with the building or the management

and I don’t know how we could possibly be subject to any legal

action,” said Paul Freeman, a spokesman for the Segerstrom family.

A group of tenants filed the joint, 13-complaint lawsuit Aug. 28.

It alleges owners of the Mesa Verde Villa Apartments ignored

complaints about toxic mold for more than two years.

The lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, names Mesa

Verde Villas and Segerstrom Properties as the owners of the apartment

buildings at 1555 Mesa Verde Drive. However, county documents show

the actual buildings belong to both an individual named Richard Eddy

and a company named R.A. Eddy, Inc.

According to property records, Segerstrom Center owns the land in

question but entered into a 55-year ground lease in 1969 with Jim

Joseph as a tenant. In 1973, records show, Joseph assigned the lease

to Mesa Verde Villas. Over the past 29 years, the agreement has been

amended five times, with the last recording listed in 1986.

Freeman said the Segerstroms have never had any involvement in the

ownership of the buildings, or the development, maintenance or

management of the property.

Still, attorney Richard Quintilone, who represents 27 tenants who

charge the property managers “with negligent maintenance of

premises,” among other things, said he will not remove the

Segerstroms from the lawsuit until it is clearly demonstrated to him

that the family has no involvement with management of the apartments.

“If they are wrongly named, they can file a motion to be dismissed

from the case,” Quintilone said. “If they can demonstrate to me that

they have no connection to the property then I will dismiss them. I

certainly have no interest in naming parties in this suit who are not

responsible for my clients damages.”

Residents, including Diane Shabba, contend they have been plagued

with health problems, which include fatigue and coughing up blood, as

a result of mold in the buildings, according to the lawsuit.

In a previous “slip and fall” lawsuit at the same apartment

complex, filed by tenant Lynette Gahafer on Dec. 12, 2000, lawyers

representing both Mesa Verde Villas and Segerstrom Center did file a

motion to dismiss the Segerstroms as defendants.

The motion, filed Aug. 17, 2001, argued Segerstrom Center should

be removed from the lawsuit because it was “an owner out of

possession.”

The status of that lawsuit, and the motion to dismiss the

Segerstroms as defendants, was not included in the court case file

and could not be determined at press time.

Anita Percaccio, the risk manager for C.J. Segerstrom & Sons,

testified in her deposition that “at no time has Segerstrom Center

constructed any buildings on the premises” or “managed or operated

any of the apartments located on the premises.”

Quintilone said he is fairly confident that the Segerstroms

deserve to be named in the lawsuit.

The fact that they responded and shared legal counsel with Mesa

Verde Villas in the Gahafer lawsuit bolsters his opinion, he added.

The facts will come out during the discovery process of the

lawsuit, which will last for at least a year, he said.

If the facts show Segerstrom Center clearly has no involvement,

they will be removed, he said.

Until then, the Segerstrom name will stay listed as a defendant,

he stressed.

“I don’t care who ends up owning the buildings, I just want

whoever it is to step up and take responsibility for the damages to

my clients,” Quintilone said.

Larry Dorn, the asset manager for Mesa Verde Villas who reports to

owner Eddy, said he has not been served with the lawsuit and could

not comment in detail about the allegations.

“There is one of these [lawsuits] that pops up every week [in the

apartment business],” Dorn said. “It’s the asbestos of the

millennium. We went through the same thing then. It’s just another

part of doing the business, unfortunately.”

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.