Appellate Materials: Rodney Abbott, et al vs. Ronald Paul Britschgi, et al

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                                1 C. Athena Roussos (#192244)
   Attorney at Law
 2 9630 Bruceville Road, Suite 106-386
 3 Elk Grove, CA 95757
   Telephone: (916) 670-7901
 4 Facsimile: (916) 670-7921
   Email: athena@athenaroussosIaw.com
 5
 6
                                                                              1 6 2011
     Attorney for Plaintiffs
 7 Rodney and Florentine Abbott                                  By.     _AJ/1AC[AS_
                                                                          Deputy Clark
 8
 9                     SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

10                               FOR THE COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO

11
                                                        Case No. 07AS04450
12 RODNEY ABBOTT, et al.,
13                 Plamtiffs,                           DECLARATION OF FLORENTINE
                                                        ABBOTT IN OPPOSITION TO
14 vs.                                                  DEFENDANT CA CONSTRUCTION'S
     RONALD PAUL BRITSCHGI, et al..                     MOTION FOR ORDER COMPELLING
15
                                                        PLAINTIFFS TO OBTAIN A BOND
                   Defendants.                          ON APPEAL
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                                                        Date:     August 26, 2011
19                                                      Time:     9:30 a.m.
                                                        Dept.:    43
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22          I, Florentine Abbott, declare as follows:

23           1.     I am one of the Plaintiffs m this action, wife of Plaintiff Rodney Abbott. Except

24 where otherwise noted, I have personal knowledge of the matters stated in this declaration, and
25 if called upon to do so, could and would testify to these matters.
26          2.      I have reviewed Defendant CA Construction's motion for an order compelling us

27 to obtain a bond on appeal and submit this declaration in opposition to the motion.
28 ///

                                 DECLARATION OF FLORENTINE ABBOTT. -1
1           3.      CA Construction claims that we are "dumping" properties and suggests that we
2    are doing so to evade the judgment against us. That is untrue.
3           4.      We have owned several pieces of real property in the Sacramento area. Because
4    of the economic downturn which has hit this area very hard, nearly all of the properties that we
5    own currently or have owned in the past several months have negative equity. The amount of
6    debt for all of the properties exceeds the total value, and that has been the case for some time.
7           5.      We have attempted to sell some properties due to the high debt and negative
8    equity. We did not sell or transfer any properties in an attempt to evade the judgment for
9    attorney's fees and costs.
10          6.      The motion refers to two properties that were transferred in February 2011.
11   These properties were transferred well before the court entered the judgment against us for
12   attorney's fees and costs. The two properties, one in Sacramento (the "Stonybeck Circle
13   Property") and one in Rancho Cordova (the "Lincoln Village Lot"), were transferred to The
14   Way Enterprises LLC, which 1 own along with my husband. The Way Enterprises is not a
15   company in Southern California. We still own the Stonybeck Circle Property. We recently sold
16   the Lincoln Village Lot, which is an undeveloped lot. The Lincoln Village Lot was sold for fair
17   market value but at a loss because of the downturn in the real estate market.
18          7.      In addition, one of our properties on Hazel Avenue in Fair Oaks was taken over
19   by eminent domain. Because that property had more debt than equity, we do not expect to
20   receive any money from the eminent domain action.
21          8.      We are struggling financially. In the past year, we have had less income and
22   have incurred substantial attorney's fees and costs in cormection with this case. We have also
23   lost equity in our properties as noted above. Accordingly, 1 do not believe we will be able to
24   obtain a bond or undertaking on appeal, due to our presentfinancialsituation.
25          I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
26   foregoing is true and correct. Executed this / d a y ojLAugust, 2011 at Fair Oaks, California.
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28                                                 FLORENTINE ABBOTT

                                  DECLARATION OF FLORENTINE ABBOTT. - 2