How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced that the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, a landmark package of legislation that extends key mortgage and foreclosure protections to California homeowners and borrowers, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2013.
The new laws restrict dual-track foreclosures, guarantee struggling homeowners a reliable point of contact at their lender and impose civil penalties on fraudulently signed mortgage documents. In addition, homeowners may require loan servicers to document their right to foreclose.
“For too long, struggling homeowners in California have been denied fairness and transparency when dealing with their lending institutions,” said Attorney General Harris. “These laws give homeowners new rights as they work through the foreclosure process and will give Californians a fair opportunity to stay in their homes.”
Gov. Jerry Brown signed the California Homeowner Bill of Rights into law to bring fairness, accountability and transparency to the state’s foreclosure process.
As a result:
- There is a restriction on dual-track foreclosures, where a lender forecloses on a borrower despite being in discussions over a loan modification to save the home.
- Struggling homeowners are guaranteed lenders will provide them a single point of contact with knowledge of their loan and direct access to the banks’ decision makers.
- The statute of limitations to prosecute mortgage-related crimes is extended from one to three years, allowing the Attorney General’s office to investigate and prosecute complex mortgage fraud crimes.
- The Attorney General’s office can use statewide grand juries to investigate and indict the perpetrators of financial crimes involving victims in multiple counties.
- Purchasers of foreclosed homes are required to give tenants at least 90 days before starting eviction proceedings. If the tenant has a fixed-term lease of one year or less, the new owner must honor the lease unless the owner can prove that exceptions intended to prevent fraudulent leases apply.
- Local governments have additional tools to fight blight caused by multiple vacant homes in their neighborhoods.
The California Homeowner Bill of Rights marks a significant step in Attorney General Harris’ response to the state’s foreclosure and mortgage crisis.
The Mortgage Fraud Strike Force was created in May 2011 to investigate and prosecute misconduct at all stages of the mortgage process.
In February 2012, Attorney General Harris secured a commitment from the nation’s five largest banks of up to $18 billion for California borrowers.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – This year’s Corvettes of Lake County’s annual Christmas and installation dinner brought a different approach to the ornament exchange which has been a tradition for years.
The dinner was held at the Riviera Golf and Country Club on Thursday, Dec. 13.
Under the Christmas tree Santa’s helpers placed goodies for shelter animals who need love, food and most of all, good homes, according to club president, John Yde.
The donation of animal gifts was delivered to Lake County Animal Control on Monday, Dec. 17.
Corvettes of Lake County member Jon Trapani dropped off more than 100 pounds of dry dog food, 60 pounds of cat food, dog and cat leashes, collars, boxes of Milk Bones and chew toys.
“The Corvettes of Lake County remains very mindful and supportive of many of the organizations in Lake County, including Troop 42, Boy Scouts and Lake Family Resource Center,” said club member Gail Salituri.
If you are looking for a dog or cat to join your family, visit the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter at 4949 Helbush, Lakeport.
Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .
For more information about Corvettes of Lake County, visit http://www.corvettesoflakecounty.org/ .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Five senior centers, five high schools, three high school programs and eight nonprofit organizations will share the $96,000 raised this year from this September's Lake County Wine Auction.
The Wine Alliance, a nonprofit organization of wineries, winegrape growers, vineyard owners, related businesses and community supporters founded in 2000, has now contributed $991,302 to foster the arts, benefit health services and support the community and looks forward to breaking the $1 million figure in 2013.
This year's Wine Auction, the 13th annual, took place at Brassfield Estate Winery in High Valley, a special venue which contributed not only to successful fundraising but also to the promotion of Lake County as a premier growing region for wine grapes.
The honorary chair for the 2012 Wine Auction was Jerry Brassfield, proprietor of Brassfield Estate winery, who was assisted by committee co-chairs Judy Luchsinger of Lakeport and Sharron Zoller of Kelseyville.
Members of the Wine Alliance board are Kaj Ahlmann, president; Dr. Judy Luchsinger, vice president; Sharron Zoller secretary, Rob Roumiguiere, treasurer; and Marie Beery, and Bill Groody, directors.
The Board of Directors of the Lake County Wine Alliance wishes to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made this year's success possible. The community’s support is deeply appreciated, not only by the board but by their beneficiaries as well.
Under the Wine Alliance charter, each category shares equally in the proceeds.
The Arts: $32,000
$6,400 – Lower Lake High School
$6,400 – Kelseyville High School
$6,400 – Upper Lake High School
$6,400 – Clearlake High School
$6,400 – Middletown High School
Community: $32,000
$2,500 – Clear Lake Performing Arts Youth Program
$1,400 – Lake County Museum youth outreach docent program
$1,400 – Team DUI
$700 – Konocti Junior Tennis
$10,000 – Operation Tango Mike
$4,500 – Future Farmers of America. Kelseyville, Upper Lake and Middletown.
Health: $32,000
$3,000 – The Safe House for Homeless Youth
$14,000 – Hospice Services of Lake County
$3,500 – Highlands Senior Service Center
$3,500 – Lakeport Senior Activity Center
$3,500 – Live Oak Senior Center
$3,500 – Middletown Senior Center
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A storm system passing over Northern California over the next several days is anticipated to bring snow to some of the state’s higher elevations, but so far a white Christmas isn’t expected for Lake County.
The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook for the northern reaches of the state, including Lake County, on Thursday.
The storm is forecast to bring as much as three feet of snow above 2,500 feet elevation in Shasta County, a foot in the Coastal Range, light snow as low as 600 feet in the northern Sacramento Valley, and as much as six feet on the slope of the Northern Sierra Nevada, the National Weather Service reported.
Also in the forecast – more wind through the weekend.
Lake County’s forecast doesn’t include snow, with the National Weather Service predicting rain through Monday, tapering off that evening, with wind gusts as high as 28 miles per hour.
On Christmas day, a slight chance of rain is forecast, with partly sunny skies and a high near 49 degrees, according to the forecast.
Rain is expected on the day after Christmas, the National Weather Service said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A former Lake County Sheriff’s deputy and two other local men arrested on Wednesday during federal raids in Middletown are accused of having been involved in home invasion robberies in and around Lake County, according to court documents filed this week.
Eric Van Mendonca, 42, and Terry Jacksen, 46, both of Middletown, and Jack David Pollack, 54, of Hidden Valley Lake were arrested on Wednesday morning by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as Lake County News has reported.
The initial court appearance for the three men was on Thursday morning in San Francisco federal court, according to case documents.
FBI agents raided the 160-acre property Mendonca rents at 18795 Grange Road, where Jacksen also lived in a trailer, as well as Pollack’s home at 19280 Deer Hill Road, according to court records filed in the case.
FBI searches of the properties yielded numerous pieces of evidence, including firearms, methamphetamine and marijuana, handcuffs with “LC Jail” engraved on them, and a series of cell phone pictures showing Jacksen and two other individuals posing with firearms and dressed in Lake County Sheriff’s Office t-shirts and uniforms, case documents revealed.
Mendonca, a former Lake County Sheriff’s deputy and Petaluma Police Department officer who was reported to have been retired out of the sheriff’s office on a disability about a decade ago, is charged with conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce.
Pollack was arrested for possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance; 18 pounds of processed marijuana were found at his home, the complaint said. Jacksen was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm, with two rifles, a shotgun and handgun seized during the search of his residence.
The complaint against the three men explained that the Lake County Sheriff’s Office recently had informed the FBI about a series of unsolved home invasion robberies in and around Lake County.
The sheriff’s office specifically referenced multiple home invasion robberies “where the perpetrators had dressed in what appeared to be police uniforms” to commit the crimes, the complaint stated.
One of those incidents occurred on Oct. 4 at a residence in the 21000 block of Yankee Valley Road in Hidden Valley Lake, where 48 marijuana plants valued at $96,000 and a variety of other items were taken, according to the complaint.
The victim reported that he found a male subject – believed to have been Pollack – peeking through one of his residence’s windows, the complaint said. When they spoke, the suspect said he was there in response to a well water maintenance service call. The victim said the water worked fine and followed the suspect down the driveway, watching him get into a white truck that had tools, tool cabinets and metal pipes.
Several hours later, two men dressed in brown Lake County Sheriff’s Office button-up shirts with collars knocked on the victim’s front door. One of the men carried a revolver in his waistband and the other was holding a shotgun, with one of the men wearing a white rancher style cowboy hat, court documents stated.
“The subjects told the victim that the ATF was in town and had observed marijuana on the victim’s property and that they wanted to do a search of the interior of the house before their sergeant and others arrived,” according to the complaint. “Three friends of the victim were present with him at his residence. The subjects conducted pat searches on the victim and his friends and then restrained them using handcuffs and zip ties.”
The two subjects then searched the home looking for “powders, other drugs, and money,” taking the victim with them in an upstairs bedroom away from his friends, court documents said. The victim saw through his window two trucks coming up the driveway, one of them the white truck he had observed the first subject getting into while leaving the property earlier in the day.
The complaint said one of the victim’s friends saw a fourth subject that the home invasion crew referred to as “sarge,” who “appeared to be running the show. The subjects then exchanged the handcuffs for zip ties and left the victim and his friends tied up. The subjects left behind two sets of sunglasses and a silver-colored star badge in the backyard marijuana grow area.
The next day, one of the victim’s friends told a Hidden Valley Lake security guard about the robbery, and the security guard said Pollack had a well pump business and his truck matched the description of the one seen at the victim’s home, adding Pollack was “always up to no good,” the complaint said. Later that night, the security guard drove by Pollack’s home and noted that there was a strong smell of marijuana.
The victim and his friends began searching for Pollack on the Internet and found pictures of him advertising for his business, Pollack and Sons Pumps, as well as his booking photo on the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Web site. “The victim definitively recognized Pollack as the same person who came to his residence for the well maintenance before the home invasion robbery,” the complaint said.
Court documents explained that the victim positively identified Pollack in a photo lineup shown to him during a meeting with FBI agents on Dec. 13, and at the same time picked out a picture of Jacksen, who agents believed was present at the robbery.
In addition, court documents explained that the FBI was told by a confidential source that Jacksen and Mendonca had been part of a crew taking part in multiple home invasion robberies in and around the county, with Jacksen having told the source about taking marijuana during one of the robberies and wearing police uniforms.
Mendonca also had told the confidential informant about the robberies, noting that he was upset after one of the home invasion robberies because someone from the robbery crew had left Mendonca’s flashlight – which was police-issued – at the victim’s property, the complaint explained.
Mendonca had told the source that he was worried the police may be able to trace the flashlight back to him since it was part of his police gear and had a serial number on it, the complaint noted.
Jacksen has at least three prior felony convictions – including convictions for spousal abuse and possession of narcotics for sale, according to court records.
Lake County court records showed that Pollack has a lengthy criminal history, and was sentenced to state prison for seven years in April 2007 for charges including transportation and sales of a controlled substance.
During the Wednesday search of Jacksen’s trailer agents located a cell phone with pictures of Jacksen and two other individuals dressed in Lake County Sheriff’s Office t-shirts and uniforms, and one of them wearing an ATF hat, with the picture date-stamped Oct. 4, 2012, the same day as the Yankee Valley Road robbery, the complaint said.
The agents also seized two rifles, a shotgun, a revolver with a holster that matched the description of those seen by the victim, a user quantity of methamphetamine and a user quantity of marijuana in mason jars, a white rancher style cowboy hat and a pair of handcuffs engraved with “LC Jail,” according to the complaint.
The court documents said deputies who worked with Mendonca when he was on the force told FBI agents that “LC Jail” engraved handcuffs were issued to all deputies when they started working with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
In Mendonca’s home the agents found a set of handcuffs, a police style flashlight, and at least eight rifles, shotguns and pistols, court filings said. At Pollack’s they found 18 pounds of processed marijuana, multiple digital scales, a ledger resembling a pay/owe sheet, plastic bags, multiple jars labeled with different marijuana strains, an unknown number of Fentanyl pills, a powerful opiate, and two toy guns.
The guns found in Jacksen’s trailer all were manufactured out of state and traveled in interstate commerce, the complaint said.
If convicted, Pollack and Mendonca each are facing a maximum of 20 years in prison, with Jacksen facing 10 years, according to the charging document. Jacksen and Mendonca also could each be fined up to $250,000; Pollack could receive a fine as high as $1 million.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol has released the name of the Clearlake Oaks man who died in a head-on collision near Lower Lake on Wednesday.
Leo Galli, 73, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday on Highway 29 south of Spruce Grove Road North, according to the CHP.
Galli had been driving a 2012 Mazda southbound when, for unknown reasons, he crossed double yellow lines and went into the path of 66-year-old Lower Lake resident Beverly Reynolds’ 1999 Chrysler, the CHP said.
Reynolds tried to avoid the crash by braking but was unable to avoid colliding with Galli’s vehicle, the report said.
The CHP said Reynolds suffered a broken left arm and leg and was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital via air ambulance.
Reynolds’ passenger, a 13-year-old girl from Lower Lake whose name the CHP did not release because of her age, was transported by ambulance to St. Helena Hospital, Clear Lake for treatment of moderate injuries, including complaint of pain to her neck and back.
All three individuals were wearing their safety belts, the CHP said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at