Preview
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
EXHIBIT T
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
1
0RIGINAL
2 STATE OF NEW YORK
SUPREME 'COURT COUNTY OF SARATOGA
3
4 WEN MEI LU, CHIN CHUNG LIN LU, LI HUA LU and
LU HOLDING, LLC
5
Plaintiffs,
6
-v- Index No.: 2016-2946
7
WEN YING GAMBA, YOEN HSIANG LU, and WEN FU LU,
8
Defendants.
9 ______ __________--_____________________
10
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
11 COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY
12
WEN YING GAMBA, AS AGENT FOR YUEN HSIANG LU,
13
Plaintiff,
14
15
WEN MEI LU, a/k/a IRIS LU WHITNEY,
16
Defendant.
17 _________ -__________-____________--_____
. . .:;..·::.·.;,:::-.·..
.: -;:-..;::::·.:
18 EXAMINATION BEFORE TRIAL OF WEN YING GAMBAB
19 held before Laura A. Couch, .a Shorthand
20 Reporter and Notary Public in the State of New
21 York at the offices of Phelan, Phelan & Danek,
22 LLP, 300 Great Oaks Boulevard, Albany, New York
23 on Wednesday February 6, 2019, commencing at
24 10 a.m.
LAURAA. COUCH
(518) 495-3830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
2
1
2 APPEARANCES:
3 WHITEMAN, OSTERMAN & HANNAH, LLP
Attorney for Plaintiffs in Saratoga Action
4 and Defendant in Schenectady Action
One Commerce Plaza
5 Albany, New York 12260
BY: JON E. CRAIN, ESQ.
6
PHELAN, PHELAN & DANEK, LLP
7 Attorney for Defendants in Saratoga Action
and Plaintiffs in Schenectady Action
8 300 Great Oaks Boulevard, #315
Albany, New York 12203
9 BY: TIMOTHY S. BRENNAN, ESQ.
10 ALSO PRESENT: Wen Mei Lu
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
LAURA A. COUCH
(518) 495-3830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
3
1
2
3 S T I P U L A T I O N S
4
5
6 It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and
7 between the attorneys for the parties hereto
8 that the filing, sealing and certification of
9 the with·in deposition are waived; that all
10 objections, except to the form of the
11 question, are reserved to the time of trial;
12 that the within deposition may be signed and
13 sworn to before any Notary Public; and that
14 , the attorney for the examining party shall
15 furnish one copy of the within deposition to
16 the attorney for the party examined, without
17 charge.
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
LAURA A. COUCH
(518)495-3830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
4
_._ ..
1 {GAMBA - BY MR. CRAIN}
2 WEN YING GAMBA,
3 having been first duly sworn by the Notary
4 Public, was examined and testified as follows:
5 EXAMI ATION BY MR. CRAIN:
6 Q Good morning.
7 A Good morning.
8 Q Thank you for coming today. Before we get
9 started, just a few ground rules. I'm sure
10 Tim discussed with you. Most of them center
11 around the fact that we have a stenographer
12 here who is taking everything down that we
13 say. So that in order for her to do her job
14 properly and for the transcript to read
15 smoothly, the first rule will be that I ask
16 that you wait until I finish my question to
17 give your answer. And. I'll do the same for
18 your answer so we are not talking over each
19 other. I also ask that you try to keep your
20 answers verbal and avoid using hand gestures,
21 nods of the head, um-hum, uh-huh. Both of
22 those kind of things don't really translate
23 in the transcript. Sd for that reason it is
.....
24 best if we both keep·the conversation verbal.
LAURA A. COUCH
(518)495-3830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
5
-
1 {GAMBA BY MR. CRAIN}
2 If at any time I ask a question that you
3 don't understand., please just tell me. I'm
4 not trying to trick you. I will do my best
5 to rephrase a question or we can work through
6 something that you don't understand to make
7 sure that there is a clear understanding for
8 all of my questions and all of your answers.
9 If at any time you need a break, just let me
10 know. If there is a question pending, you'll
11 have to give an answer before we take a
12 break. But besides that, I'm happy to take a
13 break at any time. Does that all sound fair
14 and make sense to you?
15 A Yes.
16 Q Have you ever given testimony in a deposition
17 before?
18 A No.
19 Q Did you review any documents in preparation
20 for the deposition today?
21 A No.
22 Q Did you speak with anyone outside of Tim's
23 presence in preparation for the deposition
24 today?
LAURA A. COUCH
(518)49541830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
6
-
.. 1 {GAMBA BY MR. CRAIN}
2 A No.
3 Q Did you discuss your father's deposition with
4 him beforehand --
5 A No.
6 -- outside of Tim's presence?
Q
7 A No.
8 Q Have you disc'ussed this case with your father
9 in the past month?
10 MR. BRENNAN: Outside of my
11 presence?
12 Outside of Tim' presence.
Q
13 MR. CRAIN: Thank you, Tim.
14 A No.
you' --
15 Q Have discussed
16 A He is 96. He has a lot of stress. I don't
17 need to discuss this matter with him.
18 Q So generally, you don't discuss this matter
19 with him? Is that correct?
20 A No, I didn't discuss the case with him.
21 Q Have you discussed the case with him in the
22 past year outside of Tim's presence?
23 A Only when he needs to be back in US to talk
24 to the lawyer, which is Tim is his lawyer.
LAURA A. COUCH
(518)495-3830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
7
(GAMBA -
.. 1 BY MR. CRAIN}
2 Q Where do you currently reside?
3 A 10 Lincoln Road, Montauk, New York, 11954.
4 Q How long have you lived there for?
5 A Since 1987.
.
6 Q Am I correct that you operate a motel
7 operation .or bed and breakfast out of that
8 location?
9 A Hither House is motel, cottages.
10 Q How many cottages are there?
11 A Eight.
12 Q And how long has that business been in
13 operation?
14 A For me?
15 Q Sure.
16 A Since 1992 up until this date.
17 Q Is it in operation year round?
18 A Yes.
19 Do you -- withdrawn.
Q generally well,
20 At this point in time how many guests do
21 you have at the Hither House?
22 A In the winter there is very few, almost none.
23 Q You interpreted where I was going with that.
24 So generally your busy season is in the
LAURA A. COUCH
(518)495-3830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
8
-
1 {GAMBA BY MR. CRAIN}
2 summer, is that correct?
3 A Yes.
4 Q And during the summer are you typically fully
5 rented out most weekends?
6 A It depends. There is a lot of competition
7 around.
8 Q Were there times this past summer that you
9 were fully rented out?
10 A Again, it depend. Depend on the year. I'm
11 not always full year round, rented out.
12 Q Was there any time this past summer that you
13 were fully rented out, even for a day or two
14 days?
15 A Not fully have people 30 days of the month,
16 no. Not fully occupied every single unit
17 , because each unit has 30 days rental. People
18 come two day, three day, four days. So
19 sometimes it is empty for a few days and then
20 I only rent out on the weekends. And that
21 happen in the summer, too.
22 Q So you generally rent the weekends out in
23 30-day periods?
24 A No. I rent whatever the request come in. It
LAURA A. COUCH
(518)495-3830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
9
- BY
1 (GAMBA MR. CRAIN}
(.
2 is not my choice. It depend on the guest
3 requests.
4 Q You said there were eight cottages, is that
5 correct?
6 A It is c.ottage and studio.
7 Q Okay. And are they all freestanding units?
8 A Each lot has -- two lot has three building,
9 one lot has two building. So total of three
10 lots.
11 Q Do you have any business partners?
12 A No.
13 Q Do you have any employees?
14 A No.
15 Q Does anyone work at that business except for
16 you?
17 A I do. -I'm in charge of bookkeeping. I in
18 charge of the operation. I in charge of
19 cleaning. I have a groundkeeper, which is
20 helping me, and that's all I need because it
21 is not a big business.
22 Q Is the groundkeeper a full time position?
23 A No. The grass get cut once a week and the
24 place get maintained when it need it. It is
LAURA A. COUCH
(518)495-3830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
10
{GAMBA - BY
1 MR. CRAIN}
2 the same thing when I took over for my
3 mother-in-law. She was a one-person
4 operation.
5 Q When was that that you took over for your
6 mother-in-law, as best you can recall?
7 A Op until 1992. Before that it was her own
8 operation.
9 Q Were you involved with the operation before
10 1992?
11 A No.
12 Q How did you come to be involved with the
13 operation in 1992?
14 A I have become -- purchased part of the
15 purchase for Hither House. My mother-in-law
16 was retired and she put up the place for
17 ! sale, and the opportunity come and I took it.
18 Do you recall how much you purchased -- so I
Q
19 just want to be clear and make sure I
20 understand,
21 So you purchased the business. Did you
22 have any business partners at that time?
23 MR. BRENNAN: Object to the form-
24 A I have my husband and I, and my father has
LAURA A. COUCH
(518)49541830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
11
{GAMBA -
1 BY MR. CRAIN}
2 come in to help me. He has put in two share.
3 Two other person who carry his interest was
4 Li Hua Lu and Wen Mei Lu.
5 Q For the stenographer, will you know who I'm
6 talking about if I refer to Li Hua as Patty
7 and Wen Mei as Iris?
8 , A Yes.
9 Q So it is your testimony that Patty and Iris
10 were only involved at that time insofar as
11 they represented your father's interests, is
12 that correct?
. 13 A Yes.
14 Q And you said your father had two shares. Did
15 I hear you properly?
16 A It was a .two share and two share for my
17 husband and myself.
18 So it was a 50/50 split --
Q
19 A Yes.
20 -- between you and your husband on one hand
Q
21 and your father on the other side?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Do you recall what the purchase price of the
24 business was when you purchased it?
LAURA A. COUCH
(518) 495-8830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
12
-
1 {GAMBA BY MR. CRAIN}
2 A The price was $550,000. The sale price to my
3 father coming in is $475,000, because $75,000
4 was for my husband's share.
5 Q So the purchase price was $550,000?
6 A Yes. 550 was the price for sale. 475 was
7 list on the deed because $75,000 was
8 represe·nting my husband's share from my
9 mother-in-law, because that is his mother.
10 Q I see what you are saying. Okay.
11 And who paid the $475,000?
12 A We are four people are responsible for the
13 mortgage because we took over the mortgage
14 from my mother-in-law. We also have to pay
15 the difference for her, which is $245,000,
16 approximate. Four people equal share to that
17 mortgage.
18 Q Who are the four people?
19 A Me and my husband, Andrew Gamba, and my two
20 sister, Wen Mei Lu and Li Hua Lu.
21 Q So the four of you took over the mortgage, is
22 that correct?
23 A Yes.
24 Q Do you recall how much was left to pay on the
LAURA A. COUCH
(518)495-8830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
13
1 {GAMBA - BY MR. CRAIN}
2 mortgage at that point?
3 A 245 was for my mother-in-law after the deed
4 sign over. Other is payoff whatever she has
5 owe. And we carry out that payment.
6 Q Do you recall what the monthly payment was at
7 that time? And if you don't recall --
8 A I don't remember the exact number, but that
9 was the number.
10 Q Was it more than $3,000 a month, if you
11 recall, or was it generally around $3,000 a
12 month?
13 A I'm not sure exact number, but that was
14 amount for 15 years. So I have to do the
15 number. I don't have the paper. It was a
16 long time ago.
17 Q Fair enough.
18 Is it safe to say that it was less than
19 $15,000 a month?
20 A It is less than $15,000 a month, most
21 definitely, yes.
22 Q Do you think it was less than $10,000 a
23 month?
24 A Yes,
LAURA A. COUCH
(518) 495-3830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
14
- BY
1 {GAMBA MR. CRAIN}
2 Q So the four people that you mentioned, you,
3 your husband at the time, Iris and Patty
4 became equally responsible for payment of the
5 mortgage payments?
6 A Yes.
7 Q Is that co'rrect?
8 A Yes. They represent my father.
9 Q And do you handle making the mortgage
10 payments or was there someone else or did it
11 change between the four of you?
12 A In the beginning. In the beginning Iris took
13 care of the book, and that is why the problem
14 start.
15 Q Can you tell me a little bit about what you
'
16 mean by the problems?
17 A She wasn't around the place, like I said.
18 One person operation, I took care of all the
19 necessary oversee, and my husband even do
20 extra repair. She wasn't around because she
21 took the job somewhere else. She answered
22 the phone by call forwarding the number of
23 the business for reservations. She was
24 taking care of the reservation. I only get
LAURAA COUCH
(518) 495-3830
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020
15
{GAMBA -
.. 1 BY MR. CRAIN}
2 notice there is a booking, which was I have
3 to took care of the unit, clean the unit and
4 be around waiting for the guests. You know,
5 the place is open 365 days a year.
6 Q 50 Iris was handling reservations remotely?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Did Iri.a ever work at the property?
9 A No.
10 Q Did Iris ever visit the property?
11 A Yes, she was around. Sometimes she live in
12 one of the room at the main house. Sometimes
13 she went back to Albany, which is we have
14 house. And also, I know that she has marry,
15 boyfriend. She also have place other than --
16 I don't know the name, locations.
17 Q But she had another place in Long Island?
18 A No. Her. boyfriend, which is our attorney,
19 . which i·s to stay in Hampton Bay. Our
Preview
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 EXHIBIT T FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 1 0RIGINAL 2 STATE OF NEW YORK SUPREME 'COURT COUNTY OF SARATOGA 3 4 WEN MEI LU, CHIN CHUNG LIN LU, LI HUA LU and LU HOLDING, LLC 5 Plaintiffs, 6 -v- Index No.: 2016-2946 7 WEN YING GAMBA, YOEN HSIANG LU, and WEN FU LU, 8 Defendants. 9 ______ __________--_____________________ 10 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 11 COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY 12 WEN YING GAMBA, AS AGENT FOR YUEN HSIANG LU, 13 Plaintiff, 14 15 WEN MEI LU, a/k/a IRIS LU WHITNEY, 16 Defendant. 17 _________ -__________-____________--_____ . . .:;..·::.·.;,:::-.·.. .: -;:-..;::::·.: 18 EXAMINATION BEFORE TRIAL OF WEN YING GAMBAB 19 held before Laura A. Couch, .a Shorthand 20 Reporter and Notary Public in the State of New 21 York at the offices of Phelan, Phelan & Danek, 22 LLP, 300 Great Oaks Boulevard, Albany, New York 23 on Wednesday February 6, 2019, commencing at 24 10 a.m. LAURAA. COUCH (518) 495-3830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 2 1 2 APPEARANCES: 3 WHITEMAN, OSTERMAN & HANNAH, LLP Attorney for Plaintiffs in Saratoga Action 4 and Defendant in Schenectady Action One Commerce Plaza 5 Albany, New York 12260 BY: JON E. CRAIN, ESQ. 6 PHELAN, PHELAN & DANEK, LLP 7 Attorney for Defendants in Saratoga Action and Plaintiffs in Schenectady Action 8 300 Great Oaks Boulevard, #315 Albany, New York 12203 9 BY: TIMOTHY S. BRENNAN, ESQ. 10 ALSO PRESENT: Wen Mei Lu 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 LAURA A. COUCH (518) 495-3830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 3 1 2 3 S T I P U L A T I O N S 4 5 6 It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and 7 between the attorneys for the parties hereto 8 that the filing, sealing and certification of 9 the with·in deposition are waived; that all 10 objections, except to the form of the 11 question, are reserved to the time of trial; 12 that the within deposition may be signed and 13 sworn to before any Notary Public; and that 14 , the attorney for the examining party shall 15 furnish one copy of the within deposition to 16 the attorney for the party examined, without 17 charge. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 LAURA A. COUCH (518)495-3830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 4 _._ .. 1 {GAMBA - BY MR. CRAIN} 2 WEN YING GAMBA, 3 having been first duly sworn by the Notary 4 Public, was examined and testified as follows: 5 EXAMI ATION BY MR. CRAIN: 6 Q Good morning. 7 A Good morning. 8 Q Thank you for coming today. Before we get 9 started, just a few ground rules. I'm sure 10 Tim discussed with you. Most of them center 11 around the fact that we have a stenographer 12 here who is taking everything down that we 13 say. So that in order for her to do her job 14 properly and for the transcript to read 15 smoothly, the first rule will be that I ask 16 that you wait until I finish my question to 17 give your answer. And. I'll do the same for 18 your answer so we are not talking over each 19 other. I also ask that you try to keep your 20 answers verbal and avoid using hand gestures, 21 nods of the head, um-hum, uh-huh. Both of 22 those kind of things don't really translate 23 in the transcript. Sd for that reason it is ..... 24 best if we both keep·the conversation verbal. LAURA A. COUCH (518)495-3830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 5 - 1 {GAMBA BY MR. CRAIN} 2 If at any time I ask a question that you 3 don't understand., please just tell me. I'm 4 not trying to trick you. I will do my best 5 to rephrase a question or we can work through 6 something that you don't understand to make 7 sure that there is a clear understanding for 8 all of my questions and all of your answers. 9 If at any time you need a break, just let me 10 know. If there is a question pending, you'll 11 have to give an answer before we take a 12 break. But besides that, I'm happy to take a 13 break at any time. Does that all sound fair 14 and make sense to you? 15 A Yes. 16 Q Have you ever given testimony in a deposition 17 before? 18 A No. 19 Q Did you review any documents in preparation 20 for the deposition today? 21 A No. 22 Q Did you speak with anyone outside of Tim's 23 presence in preparation for the deposition 24 today? LAURA A. COUCH (518)49541830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 6 - .. 1 {GAMBA BY MR. CRAIN} 2 A No. 3 Q Did you discuss your father's deposition with 4 him beforehand -- 5 A No. 6 -- outside of Tim's presence? Q 7 A No. 8 Q Have you disc'ussed this case with your father 9 in the past month? 10 MR. BRENNAN: Outside of my 11 presence? 12 Outside of Tim' presence. Q 13 MR. CRAIN: Thank you, Tim. 14 A No. you' -- 15 Q Have discussed 16 A He is 96. He has a lot of stress. I don't 17 need to discuss this matter with him. 18 Q So generally, you don't discuss this matter 19 with him? Is that correct? 20 A No, I didn't discuss the case with him. 21 Q Have you discussed the case with him in the 22 past year outside of Tim's presence? 23 A Only when he needs to be back in US to talk 24 to the lawyer, which is Tim is his lawyer. LAURA A. COUCH (518)495-3830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 7 (GAMBA - .. 1 BY MR. CRAIN} 2 Q Where do you currently reside? 3 A 10 Lincoln Road, Montauk, New York, 11954. 4 Q How long have you lived there for? 5 A Since 1987. . 6 Q Am I correct that you operate a motel 7 operation .or bed and breakfast out of that 8 location? 9 A Hither House is motel, cottages. 10 Q How many cottages are there? 11 A Eight. 12 Q And how long has that business been in 13 operation? 14 A For me? 15 Q Sure. 16 A Since 1992 up until this date. 17 Q Is it in operation year round? 18 A Yes. 19 Do you -- withdrawn. Q generally well, 20 At this point in time how many guests do 21 you have at the Hither House? 22 A In the winter there is very few, almost none. 23 Q You interpreted where I was going with that. 24 So generally your busy season is in the LAURA A. COUCH (518)495-3830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 8 - 1 {GAMBA BY MR. CRAIN} 2 summer, is that correct? 3 A Yes. 4 Q And during the summer are you typically fully 5 rented out most weekends? 6 A It depends. There is a lot of competition 7 around. 8 Q Were there times this past summer that you 9 were fully rented out? 10 A Again, it depend. Depend on the year. I'm 11 not always full year round, rented out. 12 Q Was there any time this past summer that you 13 were fully rented out, even for a day or two 14 days? 15 A Not fully have people 30 days of the month, 16 no. Not fully occupied every single unit 17 , because each unit has 30 days rental. People 18 come two day, three day, four days. So 19 sometimes it is empty for a few days and then 20 I only rent out on the weekends. And that 21 happen in the summer, too. 22 Q So you generally rent the weekends out in 23 30-day periods? 24 A No. I rent whatever the request come in. It LAURA A. COUCH (518)495-3830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 9 - BY 1 (GAMBA MR. CRAIN} (. 2 is not my choice. It depend on the guest 3 requests. 4 Q You said there were eight cottages, is that 5 correct? 6 A It is c.ottage and studio. 7 Q Okay. And are they all freestanding units? 8 A Each lot has -- two lot has three building, 9 one lot has two building. So total of three 10 lots. 11 Q Do you have any business partners? 12 A No. 13 Q Do you have any employees? 14 A No. 15 Q Does anyone work at that business except for 16 you? 17 A I do. -I'm in charge of bookkeeping. I in 18 charge of the operation. I in charge of 19 cleaning. I have a groundkeeper, which is 20 helping me, and that's all I need because it 21 is not a big business. 22 Q Is the groundkeeper a full time position? 23 A No. The grass get cut once a week and the 24 place get maintained when it need it. It is LAURA A. COUCH (518)495-3830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 10 {GAMBA - BY 1 MR. CRAIN} 2 the same thing when I took over for my 3 mother-in-law. She was a one-person 4 operation. 5 Q When was that that you took over for your 6 mother-in-law, as best you can recall? 7 A Op until 1992. Before that it was her own 8 operation. 9 Q Were you involved with the operation before 10 1992? 11 A No. 12 Q How did you come to be involved with the 13 operation in 1992? 14 A I have become -- purchased part of the 15 purchase for Hither House. My mother-in-law 16 was retired and she put up the place for 17 ! sale, and the opportunity come and I took it. 18 Do you recall how much you purchased -- so I Q 19 just want to be clear and make sure I 20 understand, 21 So you purchased the business. Did you 22 have any business partners at that time? 23 MR. BRENNAN: Object to the form- 24 A I have my husband and I, and my father has LAURA A. COUCH (518)49541830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 11 {GAMBA - 1 BY MR. CRAIN} 2 come in to help me. He has put in two share. 3 Two other person who carry his interest was 4 Li Hua Lu and Wen Mei Lu. 5 Q For the stenographer, will you know who I'm 6 talking about if I refer to Li Hua as Patty 7 and Wen Mei as Iris? 8 , A Yes. 9 Q So it is your testimony that Patty and Iris 10 were only involved at that time insofar as 11 they represented your father's interests, is 12 that correct? . 13 A Yes. 14 Q And you said your father had two shares. Did 15 I hear you properly? 16 A It was a .two share and two share for my 17 husband and myself. 18 So it was a 50/50 split -- Q 19 A Yes. 20 -- between you and your husband on one hand Q 21 and your father on the other side? 22 A Yes. 23 Q Do you recall what the purchase price of the 24 business was when you purchased it? LAURA A. COUCH (518) 495-8830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 12 - 1 {GAMBA BY MR. CRAIN} 2 A The price was $550,000. The sale price to my 3 father coming in is $475,000, because $75,000 4 was for my husband's share. 5 Q So the purchase price was $550,000? 6 A Yes. 550 was the price for sale. 475 was 7 list on the deed because $75,000 was 8 represe·nting my husband's share from my 9 mother-in-law, because that is his mother. 10 Q I see what you are saying. Okay. 11 And who paid the $475,000? 12 A We are four people are responsible for the 13 mortgage because we took over the mortgage 14 from my mother-in-law. We also have to pay 15 the difference for her, which is $245,000, 16 approximate. Four people equal share to that 17 mortgage. 18 Q Who are the four people? 19 A Me and my husband, Andrew Gamba, and my two 20 sister, Wen Mei Lu and Li Hua Lu. 21 Q So the four of you took over the mortgage, is 22 that correct? 23 A Yes. 24 Q Do you recall how much was left to pay on the LAURA A. COUCH (518)495-8830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 13 1 {GAMBA - BY MR. CRAIN} 2 mortgage at that point? 3 A 245 was for my mother-in-law after the deed 4 sign over. Other is payoff whatever she has 5 owe. And we carry out that payment. 6 Q Do you recall what the monthly payment was at 7 that time? And if you don't recall -- 8 A I don't remember the exact number, but that 9 was the number. 10 Q Was it more than $3,000 a month, if you 11 recall, or was it generally around $3,000 a 12 month? 13 A I'm not sure exact number, but that was 14 amount for 15 years. So I have to do the 15 number. I don't have the paper. It was a 16 long time ago. 17 Q Fair enough. 18 Is it safe to say that it was less than 19 $15,000 a month? 20 A It is less than $15,000 a month, most 21 definitely, yes. 22 Q Do you think it was less than $10,000 a 23 month? 24 A Yes, LAURA A. COUCH (518) 495-3830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 14 - BY 1 {GAMBA MR. CRAIN} 2 Q So the four people that you mentioned, you, 3 your husband at the time, Iris and Patty 4 became equally responsible for payment of the 5 mortgage payments? 6 A Yes. 7 Q Is that co'rrect? 8 A Yes. They represent my father. 9 Q And do you handle making the mortgage 10 payments or was there someone else or did it 11 change between the four of you? 12 A In the beginning. In the beginning Iris took 13 care of the book, and that is why the problem 14 start. 15 Q Can you tell me a little bit about what you ' 16 mean by the problems? 17 A She wasn't around the place, like I said. 18 One person operation, I took care of all the 19 necessary oversee, and my husband even do 20 extra repair. She wasn't around because she 21 took the job somewhere else. She answered 22 the phone by call forwarding the number of 23 the business for reservations. She was 24 taking care of the reservation. I only get LAURAA COUCH (518) 495-3830 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/20/2020 11:18 AM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 56 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/20/2020 15 {GAMBA - .. 1 BY MR. CRAIN} 2 notice there is a booking, which was I have 3 to took care of the unit, clean the unit and 4 be around waiting for the guests. You know, 5 the place is open 365 days a year. 6 Q 50 Iris was handling reservations remotely? 7 A Yes. 8 Q Did Iri.a ever work at the property? 9 A No. 10 Q Did Iris ever visit the property? 11 A Yes, she was around. Sometimes she live in 12 one of the room at the main house. Sometimes 13 she went back to Albany, which is we have 14 house. And also, I know that she has marry, 15 boyfriend. She also have place other than -- 16 I don't know the name, locations. 17 Q But she had another place in Long Island? 18 A No. Her. boyfriend, which is our attorney, 19 . which i·s to stay in Hampton Bay. Our