Agents in condominium controversy are long gone

Dave Brooks

Real estate and title insurance agents at the center of the city’s

investigation into condominium conversions are no longer working in

Surf City. One is living in another state and the other no longer

holds the job.

Former Stewart Title employee Harvey Dubois was the insurance

agent for many of the properties, and Realtor Phil Benson, who

negotiated many of the deals, have reportedly left Orange County.

Representatives at Stewart said that Dubois no longer works for

the title company, but would not give any information about his

whereabouts. Several condo owners, such as Renee Tarnow, said Dubois

was the title officer appointed to many of the conversions.

Benson now lives in Idaho and said he is receiving medical

treatment for cancer and diabetes.

Reached by phone Tuesday, Benson said he was surprised that the

city was now requiring condo owners to pay as much as $30,000 apiece

to get the condos to conform to city codes.

“The city seems to have taken the position that it doesn’t know

what’s going on,” he said. “My best guess is that this whole thing is

political.”

Benson made a career for himself converting apartments to condos

and never met any opposition from the city’s Planning Department, he

said.

In June 2003, the Planning Department sent out notices to

approximately 120 condo owners, warning that their units may have

been illegally converted from apartments to condos. Converting an

apartment in Huntington Beach entails adherence to strict zoning

rules, including parking and landscaping requirements, as well as 10s

of thousands of dollars in application fees, Planning Director Howard

Zelefsky said.

The Planning Department is now recommending that condo owners who

bought the converted units pay a portion of the costs to clear up

their titles, as well a special in-lieu fee to make up for the loss

of affordable housing created by the conversions.

The exact amount of that fee will be available in the upcoming

weeks, but warns it could be as high as $20,000, said senior city

planner Jane James.

The money will be used to boost the city’s affordable housing

stock.

“Once we get the exact figure, it will go back to the City Council

and they will be asked to adopt a resolution to establish a fee,” she

said.

Police Chief Ken Small said his department will continue to work

on the case with members of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office.

“After the investigation is complete, Federal prosecutors will

decide where the case is going,” Small said. “It won’t be handled by

the District Attorney’s office.”

Small has pulled one of the two full-time detectives off the case.

Det. Sam Lopez was recently promoted to the position of Sergeant

and reassigned to uniform patrol.

Small said the transfer was necessary to meet the demands brought

on by the influx of visitors during the summer. Det. Jeff Nelson will

now be leading the investigation.