Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Chief judge says he will permit amended lawsuit for irate investors
By JOHN G. EDWARDS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Chief District Judge Michael Douglas on Monday said he would permit an attorney to file an amended lawsuit for mortgage loan investors who lost money secured by the Assisted Living Center, which was gutted by fire.
In a lawsuit filed in January, A and E Holdings and others accused Pacific West Mortgage and others of violating the Nevada Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the unlawful use of a person's property, fraud and embezzlement, attorney Mont Tanner said.
Douglas earlier issued a summary judgment in favor of the defendants including Pacific West owner Patrick Tyll and Project Disbursement Group, which was responsible for paying funds to the center's contractor.
In a hearing Monday, Douglas denied a request from plaintiffs attorney Tanner for reconsideration.
However, he told Tanner he would allow him to file an amended lawsuit if he could identify any issues that weren't addressed in the original lawsuit. After the hearing, Tanner said he will allege that the defendants breached their fiduciary responsibility to the clients.
"These are the same arguments that they made at every step of the proceeding," Jeffrey Sylvester, an attorney for Pacific West, said. "This case is over against my client."
Attorney Matthew Callister said that also was true for his client, Project Disbursement.
Tanner said he represents 67 investors, many of whom are elderly, who lost $5 million funding a mortgage loan to developer Salim Rana. Tyll's Pacific West brokered the loan.
Tanner said that more than $1.4 million of the funds were diverted to purposes other than the 77-unit Assisted Living Center at 4560 E. Washington Ave., which was destroyed by fire in September.
The center was never completed and the property has been foreclosed upon, according to an investor who asked not to be named.
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