A recent court decision has left a homebuyer without the property she intended to purchase, following a contentious legal battle over assessment liens. On June 13, 2024, Shamika Townsend filed an appeal in the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, against Angel Cordova after a Superior Court judgment ruled in favor of Cordova.
The case centers around a contract Townsend entered into with Cordova in August 2020 to buy his residential property in Los Angeles. Near the close of escrow, Cordova canceled the contract upon discovering that Property Assessed Clean Energy Program (PACE) assessment liens had been levied against the property. Townsend subsequently filed a complaint for breach of contract and specific performance. However, following a bench trial, the court concluded there was a mutual mistake regarding the PACE assessment liens and ruled in favor of Cordova.
The origins of this dispute trace back to August 2020 when Townsend made an offer to purchase Cordova’s property for $550,000. A preliminary title report from the seller’s escrow company indicated that two PACE assessments were recorded against the property in July 2018. These assessments were part of California's PACE program designed to promote energy-efficient improvements by adding an assessment to homeowners' annual property tax bills. The total amounts were $59,349.09 and $58,188.05 respectively.
Cordova's real estate agent, Martha Vega, testified that despite informing Cordova about these liens based on the preliminary title report, he insisted there were no such encumbrances on his property. This miscommunication persisted until September 1, 2020, when Cordova signed a Seller Property Questionnaire form denying any PACE lien on his property.
Townsend discovered these liens after signing the contract and assumed that under section 13B of their agreement—which stipulated that monetary liens must be paid off by the seller—Cordova would clear these before closing. The parties extended escrow to allow time for resolving these issues. However, on October 13, 2020, Cordova canceled the contract citing unresolved liens.
Cordova later testified that he had been defrauded by Green Nation Direct—a company he contacted after hearing their advertisement promising home improvements but which never delivered any services or funds despite securing PACE loans against his property.
In December 2020, Townsend filed her complaint asserting claims for breach of contract and specific performance while Cordova countered with a cross-complaint seeking declaratory relief regarding who should pay off these assessments once escrow closed.
During trial proceedings in June 2022 presided over by Judge Barbara M. Scheper at Los Angeles County Superior Court (Case No: 20STCV49201), it was determined there was mutual confusion about whether these obligations were “assessments” or “liens.” The court found substantial evidence supporting both mutual and unilateral mistakes sufficient to invalidate their contract and denied Townsend’s request for specific performance.
Representing Townsend was Cliff Dean Schneider from The Law Office of Cliff Dean Schneider while David L. Prince along with Miles L. Prince represented Cordova.